No complaints from Benitez
19 Sep 2007 - 07:57:09
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez admitted that his side had been far from their best in their 1-1 Champions League Group A draw at FC Porto.
The Reds fought back from a goal down in the Estadio Dragao to secure a point thanks to Dirk Kuyt's first-half header, but they had to hold on after having Jermaine Pennant sent off with less than an hour played.
Benitez said: "We were really very bad in that first half, there are no excuses.
"We gave the ball away too easily and made too many mistakes, but the second half was much better. We needed to show real character and that is what we achieved.
"We were more organised, there was an excellent work-rate and there were positives to be drawn from the second-half performance.
"We were playing against a good side and we have no complaints about the result."
Of Pennant's dismissal for two rash challenges, Benitez added: "I have no complaints about the decision. It was correct.
"Hopefully Jermaine will learn from this experience. Maybe it will produce something positive for the future, the tackle in that position was just not needed.
"It is difficult to understand why he did it, we had talked to him about staying on his feet and not making rash challenges.
"We were even talking on the bench about taking him off, but we just did not get the time to do it."
