Liverpool 1 Man United 2: Brendan Rodgers hails ‘heroic’ performance

Brendan Rodgers heaped praise on 10-man Liverpool for a “heroic” performance despite their disappointing loss to Manchester United at Anfield.

Liverpool were reduced to 10 men in the 39th minute after Jonjo Shelvey was punished for a tackle on Jonny Evans – but the home side took a deserved lead through Steven Gerrard’s volley after the interval.

However, Rafael equalised with a spectacular strike in the 51st minute and Robin van Persie netted from the spot to seal three points for the Red Devils.

“It was a great day for our players, I thought they were heroic today,” said Rodgers.

“The performance level up to 65 minutes or so was outstanding. It all bodes well for us going forward, we just need to turn good performances into results and I am very confident we will do that.

“We will get that bit of wee luck and when we do we will go on a roll.”

Shelvey’s sending off was the main talking point of the north-west derby, with the Liverpool midfielder penalised for an overly enthusiastic challenge.

But Rodgers felt referee Mark Halsey should have sent Evans off as well as Shelvey, with both players lunging for the ball.

“It was disappointing to say the least, if Jonjo Shelvey gets sent off than so should Jonny Evans,” he added.

“I am bitterly disappointed the referee only saw one side of that. I still felt after he got sent off we were the dominant team but you need help and we didn’t get any whatsoever.

“There was Luis Suárez’s penalty decision, there was contact and it looked a penalty. There were a number of decisions we could go on about.”