Rafael Benitez kicks up row over penalty

Old Trafford: Rafael Benitez has accused Antonio Valencia of diving to win a first-half penalty for Manchester United as Liverpool's hopes of Champions League qualification suffered a heavy blow at Old Trafford.

Liverpool manager Benitez and United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson became embroiled in a finger-wagging row on the touchline following Howard Webb's 10th-minute decision to award a penalty for Javier Mascherano's foul on the Ecuadorean midfielder.

Wayne Rooney had his penalty saved by goalkeeper Pepe Reina before converting the rebound to cancel out Fernando Torres's fifth-minute opener. But Benitez made clear his frustration at Webb's decision when asked whether he believed Valencia had dived.

"Yes, I think so. It's not clear. There is maybe a contact, but the way he fell down — strange. From the bench, I was asking the people who were below with the TV and they said it was a penalty. But I've seen three replays and the last one was very suspicious. Look at the replay and how he [Valencia] fell to the ground. It made a big, big difference."

Ferguson, who claimed in his programme notes he felt a "twinge of sympathy" for the under-pressure Benitez, took a contrasting view of the penalty, however, by insisting Mascherano should have received a red card rather than a yellow.

Ferguson said: "I thought the penalty decision was a red card because I don't see how anyone could have stopped Valencia from shooting. There was no way [Jamie] Carragher could have got across to stop Valencia from shooting, absolutely no way. But you have seen it time and time again — the law of the game is that if you stop a player from a goal-scoring opportunity, it's a red card. But it wasn't today."

Ferguson had claimed on Friday that Liverpool were "lucky" with disciplinary matters after Steven Gerrard had escaped an FA charge following a clash with Portsmouth's Michael Brown last Monday.

Ji-Sung Park's diving header sealed victory for United, who remain in a three-way fight for the title with Chelsea and Arsenal. Ferguson said: "We have a very experienced back four, a very experienced goalkeeper and that gives us a real outstanding chance, albeit with seven difficult matches."