Ferdinand shoves Torres in back of the head and trips him in off-the-ball incident
By RIK SHARMA
Rio Ferdinand continued his somewhat unsporting week by shoving the back of Fernando Torres' head in an off-the-ball incident during Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-final.
The centre back, touted for a recall to Roy Hodgson's England squad, went in for a challenge with Torres and after the pair had got up, barged him with his forearm and kicked his achilles while the referee was looking the other way.
Torres fell to the ground in a heap and Ferdinand ushered the Spaniard back to his feet.
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Sneaky: Rio Ferdinand shoved Fernando Torres while the referee's back was turned
Get up: Ferdinand yanks the Spanish striker to his feet
FA Cup report
On Tuesday night Ferdinand was seen sarcastically clapping in referee Cuneyt Cakir's face in the aftermath of United's 2-1 defeat by Real Madrid.
Cakir had controversially sent off Nani during the game and the furious Ferdinand made his feelings clear at the final whistle.
He has avoided censure from UEFA over the incident and the club also were not punished for not fulfilling their post-match media obligations.
Sir Alex Ferguson refused to speak after the game and his players were also prevented from speaking.
Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez accused Ferguson of snubbing his attempt to shake hands before the start of the game.
Benitez claimed he was waiting to shake hands with the Manchester United boss but Ferguson walked past him without doing so.
The Chelsea interim manager said: 'I was waiting at the beginning. It's up to him, I was in the way waiting.'
Asked why Ferguson might have done so, Benitez added: 'Ask him - if you are brave enough ask him. It was his decision. I was ready and waiting. I have some education because I know a lot of people are watching so I know what I have to do.'
Benitez said he had not seen the incident involving Ferdinand and Torres.
He added: 'I haven't. Fernando mentioned it - but you can see the replay.'
Ferdinand told MUTV after the game: 'We gave them the impetus to claw their way back into the game. We played some great football at times but were so careless at times. If you are careless you are going to get punished. That was the case.
Idiotic: Ferdinand sarcastically clapped in Cuneyt Cakir's face on Tuesday
'There wasn't a mental reaction to Tuesday but maybe physically you could see it in a few of the guys' legs, and as the game stretched and became a bit more open there were some tired legs out there.
'But that is no excuse. We should have had the game sewn up before then and with the experience out on the pitch we didn't utilise it the way we should have.
'But we are still in the cup. Wembley is waiting for one of us to go through and hopefully it is us.
'We go to Stamford Bridge for the replay with confidence. We have the tools. We have been there before this season and done well, and with the squad we have we don't fear going anywhere.'
VIDEO: Ferdinand shoves Torres
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