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Former England striker Stan Collymore branded Three Lions captain Wayne Rooney a cheat after he appeared to dive for a penalty during Monday’s FA Cup victory at Preston North End.
The League One side battled well throughout the tie and took a surprise lead at Deepdale, but United came back to secure a 3-1 win, with their last goal scored by Rooney from the spot.
It was a decision shrouded with controversy, with replays showing minimal contact from goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann as he came out to challenge the striker for the ball.
Down he went though, and talkSPORT pundit Collymore said following the game that there is no doubt it was a clear dive from the Red Devils skipper.
“He toe pokes the ball past the goalkeeper, who he knows is coming out quickly, and he dives,” Stan told Kick Off. “That’s cheating, we’ve had this debate a million times.
“People defend it by saying because there was a trip ‘threat’, that Wayne Rooney has the right to get out of the way and go down.
“But why not jump over him, collect the ball and stick it in the back of the net like what used to happen? You can gloss it all you like, but for me Wayne Rooney has cheated the opposition to get a penalty.
“When you wear that respect campaign armband, you owe it to the fans and the game not to do that.
"I’m bitterly disappointed, he is the England captain and Manchester United captain and he’s better than that.”
England manager Roy Hodgson was also in attendance at Deepdale as a pundit and defended his skipper on air following the game, saying the striker had taken “evasive action” to avoid contact from the goalkeeper.
And Collymore was less than impressed with the Three Lions boss, saying his reaction was “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”.
He added: “It’s absolutely embarrassing that the manager of the England nation team doesn’t show enough balls to come out and say, ‘we have the respect campaign at the FA and we don’t want to see our players diving’.
“Instead he has yielded to his most important player. It’s a disgrace for Hodgson to say that Rooney was taking evasive action because he wasn’t, he’s dived, he’s cheated, and as England manager he should be looking to stamp these things out!
“That’s the duplicity of modern managers. Mourinho, Wenger, they all do it. When it works for them, they turn a blind eye, but when there is a decision against them, suddenly the opposition players are divers and cheaters, and it’s not good enough.”
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