Preston North End keeper Thorsten Stuckmann has claimed that Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney apologised for his ‘dive’ in the FA Cup on Monday evening.
Stuckmann was adjudged to have hauled down the England captain inside the penalty box, prompting referee Phil Dowd to point to the spot, although replays suggest that Rooney was not touched.
And, the German stopper has claimed that Rooney later admitted the ‘dive’ and said sorry for going down too easily.
Stuckmann told The Sun: “After the game Rooney told me: ‘Sorry, it was my chance to get a penalty. I had to use that”.
Preston boss Simon Grayson suggested after the game that Rooney could have stopped Dowd from giving the penalty but Stuckmann believes that the referee was too blame for the decision.
“I say it clear: ‘That was no penalty,’” he said. “I also believe that, if the situation had happened the other way around, one of our strikers against the United keeper, the ref wouldn’t have given the penalty. I have no doubt about that.”