Ronaldo accused of diving Monday, December 04, 2006
CRISTIANO Ronaldo was accused of cheating by angry Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate after the midfield player's controversial role in Manchester United's 2-1 English Premier League win at the Riverside.
Ronaldo made the most of an innocuous first-half challenge with Boro's Australia international keeper, Mark Schwarzer, as replays revealed minimal contact, and Southgate said: "The man's cheated on the night, it's as simple as that.
"It's very difficult for the referee, because it happens very quickly and I can't blame him, but how many times are we going to see it?
"The lad's got a history of doing it, and in the end it's cost us the game because it gave us a mountain to climb. There's clearly no contact whatsoever, the keeper's done everything to get out of the way and the lad goes down once again, there's a history of it. It's never a penalty.
"I don't know what you do to stamp it out, and it happened again in the game after that for a free-kick. It's for people who are better qualified than me to deal with."
"You'd hope some players would perform in a manner they should do and when they've got a chance to stay on their feet they don't try to look for a penalty."
Alex Ferguson insisted the 19th-minute clash merited a penalty, although the United manager admitted his sympathy for referee Chris Foy. He said: "It was hard for the referee but, of course, it was a clear cut penalty.
"It looks as though the keeper hasn't touched him, but there was clearly intent. What's Cristiano going to do? He was going to get carted anyway."
