Paul Scholes: Even though Wayne Rooney wasn’t touched it was still a penalty

The Manchester United captain went down during the FA Cup tie against Preston

Wayne Rooney wins a penalty after going down under the challenge of Thorsten Stuckmann (Getty Images)

When Wayne Rooney saw the Preston North End goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann come charging off his line on Monday night there will have been only one thought on his mind: nick the ball past him and take the foul. I did it many times in my career.

Football is about exploiting the mistakes of others, and it was clear that Stuckmann had made a major miscalculation by coming out so quickly to a ball he was never likely to reach first. The goalkeeper was reckless but that does not mean Rooney needed to get his leg smashed to prove a point. He got out of the way.

The rules do not specify that a player needs to be touched for an opponent to commit a reckless act. It was not the most flattering tumble by Rooney but the actions of the goalkeeper meant that it was a penalty.