"I wanted to kick the ball away," said the Liverpool striker. "I closed my eyes and ran for it and unluckily I hit his knee. I am sorry.
"My style of playing is based on aggressiveness. I appreciate it looked furious on television but I surely didn't want to knowingly foul him. I wanted to kick the ball away.
"I saw worse fouls and they were only yellow cards, but this doesn't excuse me. My challenge was surely a red card.
"I will be given a three-match ban, that's normal here. If we hadn't won, I would have felt guilty for that."