Masch Sent Off As Reds Lost At OT

23 March 2008 Man Utd 3-0 Liverpool - EPL

BBC - Wes Brown put United ahead from Wayne Rooney's cross before Liverpool's hopes were hit when Javier Mascherano was sent off for dissent before the break. Pepe Reina made some great saves but he was at fault when Cristiano Ronaldo headed home United's second and Nani's fine finish completed an emphatic win.

Rafa: "It's clear Mascherano made a mistake but he was only asking the referee a question. Ryan Babel was there and saw that he was just asking. I do not think that to ask is a big problem in the end. Maybe Javier does not know the referees. If you want to win you must have passion in a big game, and sometimes you make mistakes, but he was only asking the referee about a bad tackle. I have talked to him and he knows it was a mistake."

"The referee decided to give a second yellow and he couldn't understand. He was as surprised as me. I could speak to him in Spanish, so I said, 'Listen, it's finished.' He is a very good professional who has played a lot of international games all around the world, and he couldn't understand why he was sent off for just asking. It's difficult to explain some things that happen on the pitch and I think it is perhaps better to not say too much this time."

"We haven't had too many problems with referees in the last three or four years. I can see other teams but not ours. Tell me in which game over the last four years you've seen our players go at referees? We have a lot of respect for referees."