Oscar pleads innocence over red card in Shanghai derby

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Oscar claimed he did nothing wrong to earn his first red card in his career in Wednesday's Shanghai Port's 5-1 win over Shanghai Shenhua in the first leg of a Chinese FA Cup semifinal.

The former Chelsea midfielder was sent off alongside Shenhua player Sun Shilin for being involved in a tussle in the 90th minute after making four assists in the Shanghai derby.

The 30-year-old Brazilian player insisted that he in no way deserved the red card, the first one in his career.

"I did not want to cause trouble, I just intended to protect my teammate as the team captain," he said on Thursday.

"Obviously, it was the opposition player who charged toward me with the intention to cause trouble. I just wanted to separate the players of both sides," he said.

"Anyway, a red card is part of the game," he added.

Shenhua side accused Oscar of an improper act in the fracas.

"Oscar purposefully elbowed our No. 13 player Zhao Mingjian on the back of his head," the Shanghai club said on Thursday in an appeal letter written to Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan, who happened to be the former boss of Shanghai Port.

Sun Shiling was hit on the face by Oscar when he tried to stop the Brazilian player, Shenhua said.