Wayne Rooney admits he was at fault following a bad tackle on Jordan Mutch on the weekend

WAYNE Rooney has backtracked on his initial reaction and admitted his crude tackle on Jordon Mutch was a 'bad tackle'.

WAYNE Rooney has admitted he was at fault following a bad tackle on Jordon Mutch in Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Cardiff City.

The striker received a yellow card from referee Neil Swarbrick after kicking out at midfielder Mutch in the early stages of Sunday's game at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Rooney went on to open the scoring before United were pegged back by a spirited Cardiff side, with Kim Bo-kyung equalising in stoppage-time.

"Just watched game back. I agree mine was bad tackle and ref dealt with it," Rooney said on Twitter.

United manager David Moyes defended Rooney after the final whistle, insisting that the striker had not lashed out at Mutch and did not deserve to be sent off.

"The boy (Mutch) runs across his path and there's a bit of a tussle, but I didn't think it deserved any more than a yellow card," Moyes told Sky Sports.

"I don't think it was a lashing-out, I think it was more that he felt hard done-by with the boy running across his path with the ball.

"I didn't think it was a lash out to cause any harm, I think it was more of a disappointment that he lost the ball."

News_Rich_Media: Highlights of Cardiff City's 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Cardiff City Stadium.

The Red Devils boss was disappointed with his side's defending and was frustrated to see Cardiff midfielder Gary Medel escape punishment, after the Chilean appeared to hit United midfielder Marouane Fellaini in the face.

"If he slaps someone in the face, then you'd expect some action to be taken. We actually lost our concentration because we were set up for the free-kick, the referee then spends a minute or so talking to everyone and then sets it back up.

"We still should do better but it gave them two bites of the cherry as they did actually deliver the first ball," he added.

"It gave (Peter) Whittingham another chance to get his sighters in and he certainly put in a good ball."

While opposite number Malky Mackay admitted Medel could have been dismissed, he also suggested United midfielder Fellaini needs to be careful with the way he marks.

Asked about Medel, Mackay told Sky Sports: "He could (have been sent off) but then I also look at Fellaini and doing what he does normally and putting his head on someone else's face, and that's for me a sending off. So I think that's something that needs to be looked at as well.

"Having seen the way Fellaini marked and used his arms at times in the game, not all the times but at certain points, but more so putting his head into someone's face, I think that also justifies having a look at.

"But overall I'm happy that both teams deserved to have 11 men on the pitch. They didn't deserve to have any men off and neither did we."

Read more: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/9041340/manchester-united-striker-wayne-rooney-admits-to-bad-tackle-on-cardiffs-jordon-mutch