Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believed it was a penalty after Ashley Young won a spot-kick in the win over Aston Villa.
United boss says ref right to award spot-kick in win over Villa
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believed it was a penalty after Ashley Young won a spot-kick in the win over Aston Villa.
Seven days ago, the former Aston Villa man was at the centre of a diving row when he went down under minimal contact from QPR's Shaun Derry.
Then early on in the 4-0 win over Villa, Young took a tumble under the challenge of Ciaran Clark and referee Mark Halsey had no doubts about awarding a spot-kick despite there not being much contact and Young's fall being theatrical.
Wayne Rooney converted the penalty and went on to score a brace, while Danny Welbeck and Nani were also on target in the victory, which re-established United's five point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Ferguson told
Sky Sports 1 after the game that while Young played for the spot-kick, it was a penalty.
"I think he played for the penalty. If the player decides to put his foot in and doesn't stay on his own feet and read the situation then he's fallen into that you know," he said.
"He's definitely taken him but I think it was a dramatic fall and I think that he maybe over did the fall but it was a penalty, there was no doubt about that.
"And I don't think he can have any compliant because he has actually taken him."
Good defending
Asked if the game has virtually changed now and the onus is on defenders to literally keep out of the way, Ferguson said: "No, I think good defending has always been good defending - he'll read it better.
"It was a young lad, don't forget and if they read the game and keep on their feet, then they should really cope with that."
The United boss was pleased with how his side performed and refused to get complacent in the title race.
"I thought that was one of our better performances for a while," he said.
"There could be twists and turns (in the title race) yet but I think the name of the game now is for us to enjoy ourselves, play with the expression we did today and hopefully we'll be alright.
"My experience tells me that there's always something's going to bite you on the bum so hopefully we can avoid that.
"The name of the game is not to drop any more points."
