Djibril Cisse has hit back at Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney over claims his QPR side intentionally helped Manchester City win the Premier League title at the end of the in 2011/12 season
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has previously questioned Man City's win over QPR in 2012
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Djibril Cisse has hit back furiously at Wayne Rooney following suggestions his Queen's Park Rangers team deliberately allowed Manchester City to clinch their maiden Premier League crown.
QPR faced City on the concluding day of the 2011/12 campaign, when the hosts dramatically recovered from a losing position in added time to snatch the title from rivals Manchester United.
Rooney and his team-mates had completed their task by defeating Sunderland at the Stadium of Light and were preparing to celebrate in the North East, with City trailing QPR as the match entered its closing moments.
However, Edin Dzeko's late leveller set the stage for Sergio Aguero's dramatic winner - widely regarded as one of the most memorable goals in Premier League history.
QPR entered the season's final day facing potential relegation, but results elsewhere meant that they were aware they would remain in the top flight before the match concluded.
This has sparked doubt, expressed by Rooney, that the team were content to permit their opponents to mount their stunning fightback.
Wayne Rooney clapping in 2012
Wayne Rooney and his Man Utd team-mates were left gutted on the final day of the 2011/12 season
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United's all-time leading scorer also raised concerns about Cisse, who previously played for Liverpool, being spotted 'celebrating' with City's squad after the final whistle.
However, Cisse has now responded to set the record straight, claiming Rooney's remarks were disrespectful.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, the French forward said: "I'm not going to take this accusation any longer. I was celebrating with Samir Nasri.
"I didn't celebrate with Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero or anybody else. I celebrated with my brother, Samir, who had been a friend of mine for 15 years.
"I was happy for my friend and also that we managed to stay up. I don't care about Man City. My friend finally won the Premier League after many years in England and I was happy for him and also for me. That's all."
Cisse, who scored the opening goal for QPR during that match, questioned why his team would have fought so hard to take the lead if they intended to let City win.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring the crucial third goal against QPR. third goal.
Sergio Aguero scored the title clinching goal for Man City vs QPR in 2012
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He continued: "What Rooney said isn't cool. He took out his frustrations on me. It's not my fault.
"If we had wanted Man City to win the league, would it not have been a little risky to have waited until the very last minute to let them score?
"We could have let them win 4–0 or 5–0 and gone home. But we played a strong team, the manager wanted to win that game. It wasn't our reserve team."
Rooney reignited the debate earlier this year, when he shared his feelings during an episode of the Overlap Fan Debate.
When asked about that day, he responded: "Obviously that was a tough one that... but again didn't Paddy Kenny turn the ball in for two goals? QPR knew they were safe and City get it to 2-2, then they just boot the ball back to them.
"They had Cisse on the pitch, Joey Barton got sent off for acting stupid. Who else was it? Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nedum Onuoha diving about."
Despite the lingering frustration from that afternoon, United channelled it into motivation to clinch the Premier League title for the 13th and final time under Sir Alex Ferguson in the next season.