Sir Alex Ferguson warned Ashley Young that he is in danger of being branded a diver after the Manchester United winger won his second controversial penalty in the space of a week.
Ferguson described the way Young went down over the outstretched foot of Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark as a 'dramatic fall' and the incident led Newcastle defender Ryan Taylor to call him the 'biggest cheat in the league'.
It followed another hotly-disputed penalty at Old Trafford eight days ago conceded by QPR, who had their captain Shaun Derry sent off for an innocuous challenge on the England winger.
Asked if he was worried that Young is getting a reputation for going down too easily, Ferguson said: 'In the last week or two, yes. Ive never seen that in him. Its not a habitual thing in him. He was brought down, he just made the most of it.
'It was a dramatic fall. He overdid the fall but its a penalty, theres no doubt about that and I dont think they can have any complaint because he has taken him.'
'If a player decides to put his foot in and he's definitely taken him down then he's fallen in to that.
'Good defending has always been good defending - if they read the game and keep their feet in they should really cope with that.'
Taylor immediately took to Twitter, writing: 'Ashley Young is an absolute DISGRACE. Hes the biggest cheat in the league. His antics are a joke....'
It left Villa still in danger of relegation and their manager Alex McLeish with a sense of grievance.
'I didnt think it was a penalty,' said McLeish. 'It was a very soft decision.'
Ferguson urged caution in the title race with four games to go.
He added: My experience tells me that theres always something thats going to bit you on the bum so hopefully we can avoid that.
'There could be twists and turns yet but the name of the game is to enjoy ourselves and play with expression like we did today.
'You can never be too confident. The name is the game is to not drop too many points.
'It was a good result for us. In the first half we played some good stuff and the third goal killed the game and we were able to see it out.'
Even though Rooney scored twice, he was substituted in the 74th minute with Ferguson accusing his striker of being careless.
He said: Wayne has to play on the edge of a game when it is really close and competitive. When the game gets to that casual bit, he is worse than the rest of them. He gets really casual about it. He was careless.
