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David Moyes refused to condemn Ashley Young as the Manchester United winger was involved in another diving controversy in the goalless Champions League draw at Real Sociedad.
The England international won a 69th-minute penalty for United – which was missed by his fellow substitute Robin van Persie – after reacting theatrically to a slight pull by the Sociedad midfielder Markel Bergara. Two former United players turned television pundits, Roy Keane and Ray Wilkins, accused Young of "conning" the Italian referee, Nicola Rizzoli, with Wilkins labelling the dive "pathetic".
But Moyes, who took Young to task for diving against Crystal Palace earlier in the season, would not be drawn on whether the midfielder had resorted to theatrics again. United had Marouane Fellaini sent off for a second bookable offence in the 90th minute and Moyes did say of the penalty: "I thought there were some strange decisions all night and that was another one of them." But he refused to criticise Young's part in its award.
"I have seen it again," the United manager said. "The boy tugs him in the box. The referee is two yards away from it and decides to give it. He's got a penalty kick for a decision tonight. I don't know about his reputation but the referee is there and he gave it. The referee made decisions all night. He's the one who saw fit to award a penalty and send a player off. I thought the referee made the decision and that was the referee's choice."
The new Republic of Ireland assistant manager Keane was more forthright, however. "He's obviously played for it," he told ITV. "If you are a Man United player and you see a player getting tugged back, you want him to go down. Ashley Young's obviously gone down too much over the last few months. He's been heavily criticised in England but we are in a foreign country and it's more accepted. But he's almost conned the referee there. If he scores the penalty, as a United player you would be delighted, but he's conned the referee there."
Wilkins said on Sky Sports: "This [dive] is pathetic. This is as bad for me as all these over-the-top tackles we're getting at the moment because that is a conning of the referee. I just wish Ashley would cut this out because he's a good player but he's getting a bad name."
Van Persie also hit the post from open play and Javier Hernández missed a glorious chance from six yards as United had the edge in the Basque country. Moyes said: "I see it as a missed opportunity to take three points. We had some good chances, especially in the second half, and I felt we were worthy of getting all three.
"We are still in a strong position. If we'd won it would have given us a really strong chance of winning the group. We are still top but I do feel like we've missed a chance tonight."
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