Ramires denies diving to earn Chelsea penalty

Posted Tuesday, November 12, 2013 by YAHOO Sport

Ramires has hit back at accusations that he dived to win Chelsea’s penalty in the Blues' 2-2 draw with West Brom on Saturday.

Samuel Eto’s opener was overturned by goals from Shane Long and Stephane Sessegnon to put Steve Clarke’s men on course for an upset at Stamford Bridge.

But in injury time, the Brazilian won a spot kick, which Eden Hazard converted, following a collision with Steven Reid inside the box.

"I have never used diving to win fouls or penalties," Ramires told ESPN Brazil. "It's not my character, and those who know me know it very well.”

Clarke criticized referee Andre Marriner’s decision to award the penalty and claimed Ramires was already falling to the ground before contact was made by Reid.

“I’m flabbergasted at the decision, I can’t believe he gave it but I can’t change it,” said the West Brom boss. "I've been in the game a long time and I knew when [Ramires] went down that he was already on the way down before anyone was near him.

"The referee has to be 100 percent sure it's a penalty. How he can be 100 percent sure in that instance is beyond me. It was a bad decision.”