Liverpool FC boss Rafa Benitez rues controversial penalty

RAFA BENITEZ was left cursing the controversial penalty which helped consign Liverpool to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of arch rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.The Reds boss was incensed by referee Howard Webb's decision to point to the spot after Antonio Valencia went down under a challenge from Javier Mascherano.Television replays showed the infringement started outside the box but Wayne Rooney stepped up to score at the second attempt after Pepe Reina had parried his initial spot-kick.It handed United an equaliser they scarcely deserved after Fernando Torres' early header and Ji-Sung Park settled the contest when he nodded home on the hour.'We scored a good goal and we were playing well with confidence, but one situation changed everything,' Benitez said.'From the bench I was asking the TV people and they said it was inside (the box). But watching the replay I have a lot of doubts.'I've seen three replays and how he (Valencia) went to ground was very suspicious.'It's not clear because there is contact but the way he fell down was strange.'It's disappointing but you cannot change things. Sometimes these things go your way, but this year more than we expected has gone against us.'Benitez, who was involved in an angry confrontation with Alex Ferguson on the touchline, dismissed the United manager's claim that Mascherano should have been sent off.Liverpool were on the wrong end of a stream of bewildering decisions by Webb, but Benitez rejected the idea that Ferguson's pre-match talk about Liverpool receiving preferential treatment from the Football Association may have influenced the official.

Source: Liverpool_Echo