Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson rejected Mancini’s assertion that the red card was a mistake, however, by insisting Nani was fortunate to escape injury as a result of the challenge.
Ferguson said: “It was always a sending-off because Nani is very lucky there wasn’t any contact. A two-footed tackle off the ground is a red card. The intent was there. Nani was very lucky. It could have been a bad one.
“I have seen him [Kompany] do that before, but he has maybe got away with it. We were lucky because if he had made contact, Nani would have had a real problem.”
Having led 3-0 at half-time through two Rooney goals and one from Danny Welbeck, United were fortunate to emerge victorious following strikes from Aleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Agüero.
And with Foy failing to award City a penalty for a late handball by Phil Jones, Mancini claimed his team emerged as moral victors and the defeat would inspire them to the title.
He said: “I think that this is important for us for the league. I think now we can win the league.
“United is the top squad in England and if we can play like we did against them with 10 players with that same attitude and same strength in every game we will [win the league].
“I am disappointed for the game, but I think today we took two steps forward because we have shown character.
“When United played with 10 men they lost 6-1 [in October] and played for 40 minutes with 10 players. We played for 80 minutes with 10 and didn’t concede any chances in the second half.”
Mancini’s comments were echoed by Kompany, who tweeted after the game, “Every single person involved with Man City FC were incredible today. Definitely the moral winners of this game.”