Rafa refuses to blame fluke

17 October 2009 17:50
Liverpool Rafa Benitez refused to blame the fluke goal which gave Sunderland their 1-0 victory. The only goal at the Stadium of Light arrived after five minutes when Darren Bent's shot deflected off a beach ball and past the helpless Jose Reina. But Benitez admits the goal should have stood and he could have no complaints about the result after a poor performance. "It was a special situation, but we didn't play well and so I don't want to talk about that - we didn't play well and we made some mistakes, we gave the ball away and we couldn't take our chances," said Benitez. "These things happen, it is a bad situation for us as it was in the middle and very influential but we didn't play well and that is the main thing for me." When asked if he thought the goal should have been disallowed, he replied: "It is a technical question, but if you look at the opposite and the ball went wide, then a goal would not have been given so on this occasion it has to be a goal and that is it. "We have to do better if we want to win these sort of games." Title dreamsBenitez also insisted that their fourth defeat in nine league games does not mean their title hopes have gone. "In a normal season if the teams at the top of the table win every single game then it would be different," he said. "Look at this year Chelsea have already lost two games and I think this year will see teams at the top losing a lot of games. "This is bad, but whether it is crucial depends on the next few games, you have to keep your confidence and keep working hard. "We are not going to talk about the title as we have an important game in midweek and then another game on Sunday. Our priority is to take as many points as we can from every single game. "We are making some mistakes and we have to try and find the solutions and in these difficult games we have to improve." He also played down his touchline spat with Steve Bruce. "There was no argument, I was just asking about the time. I was talking with the fourth official and he wanted to argue with me," he said. Benitez also said he was hopeful that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would be fit to face Lyon in midweek. "Both are improving but it is too soon to say, we will see how they progress. As a team we have to keep working hard," he concluded.

Source: SKY_Sports