Town boss George Burley labelled Manchester United's penalty a joke and accused Ruud Van Nistelrooy of looking for the penalty after Town's 1-0 loss at home to Manchester United.

A cross Burley said: "Ruud van Nistelrooy was clearly looking for it. It was a joke decision.

"We were always up against it from that moment. We'd been playing well and had created a couple of chances.

"But the first goal of any match is important, especially when you are playing Manchester United, and when the referee makes a decision like that, you know you're in for a difficult game.

"It was a joke decision and it cost us the game. In fact, we should have had a penalty, but Darren Bent tried to stay on his feet when he was fouled. Van Nistelrooy, on the other hand, went down looking for a penalty."

Titus Bramble, the man penalised by referee Rob Styles, agreed with his boss: "I don't think it was a penalty. I just stood my ground. The ball would have gone over his head, but there must have been a tangle of legs.

"It's cost us the game. It is so disappointing for us because we have played really well in the last few games."

Styles said after the game that he saw a push by Bramble, something that few others were aware of with the exception of the Manchester United boss. Alex Ferguson backed Styles' decision: "I appealed for a penalty when I first saw it. It was the first thing I thought of when Ruud went down. It looked like a penalty from where I was sitting."

Van Nistelrooy was accused of similar dives in United's match with Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the week and also against Chelsea recently.

Photo: Action Images

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