Dalglish upbeat despite loss

New Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish was pleased by his side’s commitment despite their 1-0 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup third round.

The 59-year-old Scot, who was placed in charge at Anfield until the end of the season on Saturday after the sacking of Roy Hodgson, bemoaned two crucial refereeing decisions that cost his side dearly.

United were awarded a penalty after less than a minute of action when Daniel Agger was adjudged to have brought down Dimitar Berbatov, with replays suggesting contact was minimal.

Ryan Giggs blasted home the resulting spot-kick for the only goal of the game.

And referee Howard Webb courted controversy again on the half-hour mark when he dismissed Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard for a two-footed lunge on Michael Carrick.

“The two decisions are important factors in the game, but if you went into detail about them it would take away from the commitment of the players,” Dalglish told Sky Sports.

“It’s difficult to come here, they are top of the league and when you are down to 10 men and lose a goal in the first minute you need to show commitment, and the players did that and they had great support here today as well.”

“If we can restrict the team at the top of the league to that, that bodes well for us.”

“I did not think the penalty was a penalty kick.”

“The sending off, is anyone who leaves the ground to get sent off now? The thing was that Howard Webb stepped away from the incident and then blew his whistle after one of our lads kicked the ball.”

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson had an opposing view of the key decisions, and was steadfast in his belief the penalty that resulted in the winner should have been awarded.

“It was a penalty,” Ferguson said. “Dimitar says he was definitely clipped.”

“The replay shows he slightly touched him but the momentum is enough to bring the player down.”

“There is no reason for him to go down anyway. He is not that kind of player.”

“As for the sending off, there was no doubt. It was two-footed and he was off the ground.”

“Steven Gerrard is not that type of player but it was a reckless challenge. I don’t think he left the referee with any option.”