QPR Officials Decry Ref Mistake and "Dive" from Manchester United's Ashley Young

Before the last fans had filed out of Old Trafford, Queen's Park Rangers officials took to Twitter to condemn an officiating mistake and Ashley Young's apparent dive that led to Manchester United's first goal on Sunday.

Within the first quarter-hour, Ashley Young came from an obviously offside position to track a pass through the middle of the QPR defense. As the pass came in, QPR captain Shaun Derry put a hand on the United man's side, which sent Young flailing to the ground.

The linesman made no signal for the offside. Referee Lee Mason blew for the penalty, produced a red card for denial of a goal scoring opportunity and the match was pretty much over from a QPR perspective.

QPR chief executive Philip Beard responded quickly. (From @philipb1):

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Difficult to take after watching numerous replays but Ashley Young could partner [British Olympic diver] Tom Daley at the Olympics. #QPR

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The club's majority shareholder and chairman Tony Fernandes called the decision awful, but took the opportunity to thank Manchester United supporters for their messages of consolation. (From @tonyfernandes):

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Thank you to all the manchester united fans for their honesty. Have received 150 tweets saying he was offside and was never a penalty.

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In a pair of tweets, club co-owner and VP Amit Bhatia cited the incident against his club as well as a similar incident that cost Wigan in their Saturday match at Chelsea in calling for the use of technology in football officiating. (From @amit_bhatia99):

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I just can't repeat it more times. I've shouted it from the rooftop repeatedly, its time to bring technology into football! These decisions are just too costly. And it happens every weekend. And to every club. Wigan yesterday, us today. And us throughout the season. #tragic. #qpr

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QPR put up a valiant defense down a man for more than 70 minutes. However, the result was never really in doubt.

Manchester United's Paul Scholes added a second for the home side in the 68th minute when exhausted QPR defenders failed to close him down at the top of the area.

United momentarily extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points with second-place Manchester City set to play Arsenal later in the afternoon. QPR now sits just clear of the relegation zone thanks to a slight advantage on goal differential.