Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has accused Wayne Rooney of "cheating" during Manchester United's 3-1 victory over Preston North End last night.
Collymore, now a radio pundit, was referring to the moment in the FA Cup tie's closing stages when the United striker won a penalty following a challenge from Preston goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann.
Replays showed that although Stuckmann had failed to touch the ball, he also made no contact with Rooney, who converted the resultant kick from 12 yards out.
Speaking about the incident, Collymore said on talkSPORT: "He toe pokes the ball past the goalkeeper, who he knows is coming out quickly, and he dives. 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."
In contrast to Collymore, Preston boss Simon Grayson insisted that Rooney had not dived.
Liam Apicella
