Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed some key decisions went against them after Liverpool defeated them today. Ferguson seems to have grudgingly accepted that Liverpool deserved to win but in after match comments he suggested that the Man U players and ref Andre Marriner found the atmostphere at Anfield intimidating. What the hell did they expect- a Sunday school picnic?
"All in all Liverpool were the better team but I think it affected our players and the referee there were so many controversial things that happened we have to feel aggrieved at some of them." Losing most of all eh?
United did have a first-half penalty appeal rightly turned down when Jamie Carragher
challenged Michael Carrick. Ferguson reckoned that Carragher had "gone right over the top of the ball. If it is outside of the box it is a free kick and maybe a yellow card. But it was inside the box and the referee was only six yards from it. It was another bad decision."
He also complained about Carragher bringing down Michael Owen and claimed it was a
"professional foul." Ferguson continued his dig at the referee claiming "The atmosphere is hard to handle for a referee. Whether he had enough experience, I don't know."
In reality Man United created few chances during the match and Ferguson and Liverpool created by far the better chances. man Utd were simply not good enough on the day as Liverpool rose to the challenge of their recent defeats - our worst sequence of results since 1987.
Benitez as usual showed little emotion - even after Torres put Liverpool ahead after 65 minutes. Torres threw off a shrugged Rio Ferdinand chellenge then smashed the ball past Edwin van der Sar. Torres lasted 80 minutes before being substituted.
Benitez reconed he was enjoying the spectacle "I was enjoying but on the inside - we were against a good team and I was thinking about how to create chances and control the opposition. It was a great goal - always he is a threat. Torres was a bit tired and it was difficult for him but he made the difference."
As expected a number of beavch balls made an appearance at the game despite talk before thye match that there would be searches to make sure none were taken into the ground. The Anfield stewards and Pepe Reina were kept busy as both sets of fans threw giant inflatable beach balls - in case any one needs reminding (!) this was sparked by last weekend's freak winner for Sunderland.
Player Ratings
Reina 7 - Excellent beachball skills reina also dealt firmly with any balls that came over the top of defence. Dealt calmly with everything.
Johnson 6 - Had a quiet performance and hardly got beyond half way line. Not sure he is totally match fit.
Carragher 7 - Solid performance with gritty tackling.
Agger - 6 - Solid but not spectacular.
Insua - 5 - He struggled a bit with Valencia.
Lucas - 7 - Frustrated United. Some of his distribution could have been better. Mascherano - 6 - Harried Scholes all afternoon and was sent off for a
second yellow in injury time - he wasnt a happy bunny about that.
Benayoun - 7 - Pvotal in creating the chance that Torres snapped up.
Kuyt - 6 - Energetic and a hassle for United.
Aurelio - 7 - Unlucky he didnt score with a header and a free kick.
Torres - 8 - Found his inspiration past the hour mark. He had too much pace and strength for United.
Sub Ngog - 7 - Finished off United with a late goal in injury time.
Despite Rafa Benitez promising that he would be the first Liverpool manager to see Liverpool lift silver at the new Wembley Stadium Arsenal moved to the quarter finals of the League Cup with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium tonight.
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