Houllier laments Hyypia dismissal

The Reds captain hauled down Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the penalty area after just four minutes of the match. Though a penalty seemed justified, the sending off was most harsh. Houllier saw this decision as the crucial point of the match - though he refuse to condemn Riley.


Houllier said: "It's a bad afternoon. The match changed after 4 minutes when we conceded a penalty and had our captain and centre-half sent off. It is always difficult to come here and get a result and to play 86 minutes of the game with 10 versus 11 was always going to be difficult.

"I am pleased with the effort of the players who for an hour held United but the second penalty killed us and affected the morale of the team. Don't forget this 10 versus 11 comes on the back of two internationals."