Sunday, September 21, 2008

Rafa: Massive Mistake Costs Us

Rafa Benitez was left cursing a 'massive' refereeing error which denied Liverpool a crucial opener in Saturday's stalemate with newly-promoted Stoke.

Steven Gerrard appeared to have opened the scoring after just three minutes only for the linesman to flag for no valid reason.

"Nobody knows why it was disallowed," Benitez told reporters after the final whistle at Anfield.

"The referee told Carra that he – and not the linesman - disallowed the goal but I don't think he knows why. With the position the referee was in, how could he disallow it? It was unbelievable and we have to talk about it because it was a key decision.

"It is impossible to explain.

"The other thing we have to talk about when you forget about the massive mistake is the game. We had plenty of possession, tried from both sides and between the lines, had corners and free-kicks and long shots - but we couldn't score. This is football sometimes, but the players worked really hard.

"Sometimes you need a bit more luck or sometimes a bit more ability in the final third.

"I don't know how many attempts we had. It's difficult to find a solution when you have 25 to 30 chances – you just have to do the same again and maybe it will be different next time."

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