Kenny Dalglish refused to condemn Jamie Carragher for his horror challenge on Nani during Liverpool's 3-1 victory over Manchester United at Anfield.
The former England centre-back was shown a yellow card by referee Phil Dowd for his high tackle just below the knee which resulted in the Portugal international departing the pitch on a stretcher and in tears shortly before the interval.
Carragher's moment of madness marked the start of a tense few minutes in the enthralling clash prior to half-time, with Maxi Rodriguez escaping punishment for lunging at Rafael, and the young United defender also fortunate to only see yellow after a two-footed tackle on Lucas.
The experienced Reds centre-back is reported to have waited outside the United dressing room to apologise to Nani after the match, which was settled by Dirk Kuyt's hat-trick, but Dalglish was not keen to discuss the incident.
When asked if the defender was lucky to avoid a red card, Dalglish told Sky Sports: "I think he was fortunate to be playing for Liverpool today, because we were the better team.
"I think the match was played in a fantastic spirit and I think both sets of players deserve great credit for they way they went about the match and for the most part, I think they made the referee's job quite easy.
"Football is more important than an incident in the football match. For us, we will talk about what we did on the football pitch, because we don't want to dilute that."
Kuyt's treble was the first hat-trick of his Anfield career, and he is unlikely to get three easier goals, with the first coming from close range after Luis Suarez's brilliance, before further simple finishes after errors by Nani and Edwin van der Sar.
"It's a hat-trick, he's got to be there to put it in. He works tirelessly for the cause and any reward he gets he works really hard for," Dalglish said.
"So if someone has been generous to him and laid something on for him a yard in front of goal then good luck to him, he deserves it.
"For us it is a huge win and the lads deserve great credit for the way they played, their discipline, their application and the pride they showed in themselves and the football club.
"It's been a tough season, it's not finished yet, but I think that would be the highest point of the season for Liverpool fans and to be part of it was an absolute pleasure. The boys that played today were magnificent."
Dalglish was also able to hand £35million January signing Andy Carroll his debut, with the former Newcastle striker coming on in the 74th minute and giving a glimpse of what he will bring to the side.
The Reds boss added: "Andy needs games. This was just a reward for the work he has done in training. He and the medical staff have done brilliantly.
"For Andy to be part of it, it gives him a welcome and you couldn't get a better game or a better occasion this season than that one."
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