Skip to main content

Rashford insists he didn’t dive as Mourinho backs teenage Man United striker



Marcus Rashford told Jose Mourinho he did not dive to win a penalty during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Swansea City.

United were awarded a spot-kick in added time at the end of the first half of Sunday’s game at Old Trafford after Rashford went to ground following a challenge from Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.


However, television replays suggested that the England international was already on his way down before Fabianski made contact and the incident drew fierce criticism from Swansea head coach Paul Clement.

Red Devils manager Mourinho, though, offered his backing to Rashford after the incident which enabled Wayne Rooney to open the scoring.

“I don’t have a view because I didn’t watch,” said Mourinho. “And I have Marcus’ opinion and he said that the goalkeeper touched him.”

Clement was adamant that Rashford had “deceived” referee Neil Swarbrick, telling BT Sport : “My players clearly thought it wasn’t a penalty and, seeing the replay, the player has deceived the referee. It’s clear. There’s no other way to look at it.

“The ref seemed to have some doubts because there was a big delay and I spoke to him afterwards and he said he was only receiving confirmation from his assistants. It was a mistake. He went down way before there was contact.”


Relegation candidates Swansea salvaged a point thanks to Gylfi Sigurdsson’s superb second-half free-kick, but the Rashford incident was the game’s biggest talking point.

The 19-year-old is currently leading the United line in the absence of the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic and he received the support of both Gary Neville and Michael Owen.

In response to Mourinho’s comments, former United captain Gary Neville tweeted: “He doesn’t need to justify himself for winning his team a penalty!”

Ex-United striker Owen, meanwhile, accepted that it was not a penalty, but drew on his own playing experience to explain why Rashford would have gone to ground.

Owen told BT Sport : “Unless you’ve been in the same position, it’s very hard to explain.

“I was at White Hart Lane and I never did that, and I ended up breaking my foot. Paul Robinson, the goalkeeper, broke my foot and that turned into a knee ligament injury and I was out for a year-and-a-half because I didn’t protect myself.

“I planted my foot and then, once you’ve planted your foot, you’re not in control.

“It’s not a penalty, but I’m hesitant to say it’s a dive as well. It’s turned into one and it looks like one but, having been in that situation, you’re more protecting yourself than trying to cheat everybody.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Upcoming Yoruba actress, Feyi Hassan releases sexy birthday pictures

Upcoming is a bit harsh to describe, pretty Yoruba actress, Feyisara Hassan, because already she has produced five films of her own, while featuring in plenty more. Feyi, who became a producer as a teenager added another year on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 and to celebrate the special day she released some sexy pictures to show another side of her person. Vulnerably beautiful, delicate and yet provocative, Feyi, slays minds in this shoot, without having to go over the edge. Happy birthday girl.

Wike moves to ban 5,000 unapproved schools in Rivers

The Rivers State government says it has concluded plans to ban all unapproved schools operating in the state with effect from September this year. State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Kaniye Ebeku, disclosed this when he led members of the Rivers state House of Assembly Committee on Education on an inspection of ongoing rehabilitation work at Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta in company of officials of the state Ministry of Education. Prof. Ebeku said about five thousand illegal private schools are operating in the state. He said that publications will be done in both National and local papers in the coming days with the full names of the affected schools. According to Ebeku, “We found that there are so many unapproved quacks schools operating in the state and this is not acceptable for many reasons. They deliver poor quality education and because they are operating underground they are not paying required taxes as legitimate approved organizations. “We would not want ...

Stop exploiting Buhari’s ill health, northern group tells Yoruba leaders

Northern Patriotic Assembly (NPA) has warned politicians in the country to stop exploiting President Muhammadu Buhari’s ill health situation for political and personal gains . In a statement issued in Kaduna Wednesday the group said such actions by politicians was “immoral and despicable”. The statement signed by its President, Idakwo Jibrin and Secretary General, Alhaji Adamu Wakil pointedly accused some Yoruba Leaders of trying create crisis in the country through their utterances. According to the group recent remarks on the President’s health credited to Chief Bisi Akande and Femi Falana were part of a larger plot to plunge the country into crisis to the benefit of the Yorubas. “Even more unnerving is situation whereby people we once held in high esteem as elders, leaders and professionals decided to descend into the mud, using President Buhari’s health as their new object of obsession. “They have fanatically tried to impose this obsession of theirs on other Nigerians in a desper...