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Cape Town - Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling issued an apology after winning a fake penalty in Wednesday's UEFA Champions League Group F win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
City were already 1-0 up when Sterling burst into the box and went to ground under pressure from a defender. Referee Viktor Kassai was just behind the play and from his angle it appeared the 23-year-old had been clipped.
However, replays showed that the player had not been touched and instead had kicked the turf before tumbling to the ground.
Gabriel Jesus then stepped up to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot. Thereafter it was one-way traffic as City routed the Ukrainian outfit 6-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
Nonetheless, after the game Sterling apologised to both the opponents and the referee for the incident.
He told BT Sport: "I went to chip the ball and I don't know what happened next. I ended up on the floor and turned around.
"I don't think I felt contact, it was just my bad. I hit the floor and scuffed the floor. Apologies to the ref and apologies to Shakhtar."
Meanwhile, manager Pep Guardiola said next time he is hopeful that the England international can inform the officials if a mistake has been made.
He said: "You could do that. We don't like really to score a goal in that situation."
