Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was unhappy with referee Martin Atkinson but insisted he was not looking for excuses after the EFL Cup semi-final exit to Southampton.
Klopp felt his side should have had a penalty for handball by Shane Long well before the Saints substitute went on to score the added-time goal which gave the visitors a 2-0 aggregate victory to put them into their first major final since 2003.
"Congratulations to Southampton but I am disappointed," he said.
"The handball was clear. Long's was a clear handball.
"The handball was obvious, 100 per cent obvious. No one comes down and says, 'Sorry, I didn't see it'.
"Maybe it's not interesting and I won't look for excuses but it is really hard to accept.
"In one of the biggest games against Man United (a fortnight ago) he (Antonio Valencia) was two or three yards offside (for Zlatan Ibrahimovic's equaliser) and no one really speaks about it.
"We've had a lot of offside goals against us which shouldn't have been allowed and then a handball."
However, despite their bid to reach Wembley for the second successive season falling at the final hurdle the Reds boss said he was more than satisfied with the performance.
"Southampton counter-attacked really well and in the second half they did it much better," he added.
"We usually score in situations like this but we didn't.
"It doesn't say anything about the performance but everything about the result. We are out and we have to accept it.
"As a coach it is very important for me to know what the performance is like and I thought we deserved to win the game.
"For me it is very important the way we choose to create chances.
"We stuck to the usual plan and in one or two moments immediately we had good chances.
"We are out and I think no one will talk about this for a long time but for us the performance was really important and I am fine with this."
Southampton manager Claude Puel came with a game plan and his players executed it perfectly with a well-organised, composed display.
The Frenchman felt a trip to Wembley was just reward for a difficult season which has seen them go out of the Europa League early and have some inconsistent performances in the Premier League.
"I am happy for all the squad because they work very hard since the beginning of the season and play all these games every three days which is very difficult," he said.
"Often they can do fantastic work on the pitch without the good reward and today I think it's fantastic to win this game, to see them qualify for Wembley and to have all this for the staff, the players and our fans.
"It's not finished now. It's interesting of course to go to Wembley and it's not just to participate but to win this game.
"It's an important game, not just to play this final but perhaps to see another qualification for the European games.
"It will be important for the squad to continue the work, to improve, and know the possibilities to play European games.
"It's important to put all this experience for next year in European games. It will be important to qualify."
Source: PA
