Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was adamant his side should have been awarded a second penalty in their 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.
Spurs won the game courtesy of goals by Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Sebastien Bassong with Steven Gerrard grabbing the Merseysiders’ goal from the spot.
However, the Spaniard believed the Reds should have had another penalty late on after Andriy Voronin appeared to be pushed off the ball by Assou-Ekotto.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Benitez insisted it was a definite spot-kick that his team had been denied.
“It was a penalty. It was 100 per cent. Everybody could see it was a penalty,” fumed the Liverpool boss.
“Anyway the first half was not the best for us, the second half much better.”
Benitez also rued Liverpool’s inability to stay on level terms, after Gerrard’s equaliser, but insisted he was happy with his side’s work rate.
“It’s a pity when you score, you draw and after you concede another from a free kick, it’s very difficult but I’m disappointed because I think second half we worked really hard,” he explained.
“I think second half we were much better, we had two or three situations when we were a threat, we were dangerous but still we had too many problems with the two centre backs.”
The Spaniard would not be drawn on whether his side had missed Xabi Alonso but insisted that they must improve for their next fixture.
“I think in some games we won without Xabi Alonso so it’s not fair to talk about this now,” he added.
“It’s too early, we have to improve, we think that the second half was positive so we will try and do the same things in the next game, we will try to play better football if we can.”
Spurs won the game courtesy of goals by Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Sebastien Bassong with Steven Gerrard grabbing the Merseysiders’ goal from the spot.
However, the Spaniard believed the Reds should have had another penalty late on after Andriy Voronin appeared to be pushed off the ball by Assou-Ekotto.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Benitez insisted it was a definite spot-kick that his team had been denied.
“It was a penalty. It was 100 per cent. Everybody could see it was a penalty,” fumed the Liverpool boss.
“Anyway the first half was not the best for us, the second half much better.”
Benitez also rued Liverpool’s inability to stay on level terms, after Gerrard’s equaliser, but insisted he was happy with his side’s work rate.
“It’s a pity when you score, you draw and after you concede another from a free kick, it’s very difficult but I’m disappointed because I think second half we worked really hard,” he explained.
“I think second half we were much better, we had two or three situations when we were a threat, we were dangerous but still we had too many problems with the two centre backs.”
The Spaniard would not be drawn on whether his side had missed Xabi Alonso but insisted that they must improve for their next fixture.
“I think in some games we won without Xabi Alonso so it’s not fair to talk about this now,” he added.
“It’s too early, we have to improve, we think that the second half was positive so we will try and do the same things in the next game, we will try to play better football if we can.”
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