Rodgers fuming at referee

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insisted the best team lost and blamed mistakes by referee Mark Halsey for contributing to their first defeat to Manchester United at Anfield since 2007.

Rodgers took issue with the sending-off of Jonjo Shelvey, the penalty that Robin Van Persie converted to win the game 2-1 and Halsey's decision not to award Liverpool a spot-kick when Luis Suarez was felled in the second half.

"We are bitterly disappointed with the result, I thought the best team lost," he said. "Of what we could control I thought the players and performance level was outstanding, what we couldn't control were decisions by the referee."

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