 Gerrard gifted Henry a similar chance at Euro 2004 |
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard confessed "it's my fault" after his calamitous backpass presented Thierry Henry with the winner against Arsenal. The game was poised at 1-1 before the late error and Gerrard said: "We could have gone away and nicked a draw but I've made a stupid mistake.
"I thought I'd knock it back to the keeper, waste a bit of time, but Henry was hiding behind the centre-backs.
"If there's only one player you don't want to it fall to it's Henry."
But Gerrard felt he wasn't the only one to have made a bad mistake.
Just before Henry's winning goal, referee Steve Bennett showed Xabi Alonso a second yellow card, even though the Spaniard's challenge on Mathieu Flamini appeared to result from an accidental slip.
And Gerrard added: "I think the referee has gone off the crowd's reaction.
"You can see clearly the linesman isn't going to give anything and the referee hasn't even seen the incident."
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez also believed Bennett's decision had proved the turning point in a close game.
"Xabi has slipped over, it is clear. The referee showed the card too quick," he said.
"It affected the team because we were controlling the game. The decision changed everything. It was crazy."
Gerrard's error capped a depressing week, which had also led to the European champions being knocked out of the Champions League.
Benitez was downbeat, but refused to blame his captain.
"It was a bad week," he said. "This kind of mistake is bad luck, a bad decision in one moment, it is a bad result for us but we have to keep going."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt the three points were no more than his promising young side deserved.
Cesc Fabregas followed up his fine display in the midweek draw against Real Madrid with a man-of-the-match display.
The Spanish midfielder set up Thierry Henry's first goal with a sublime pass and Wenger said: "We have seen some quality passes today.
"He has great vision, simplicity in his game and when you see things, football is easier. That goal is a good example of that."
The Gunners boss also felt Henry deserved credit for his winning goal, gifted to him by Gerrard.
"It was a gift but it is part of a striker's job to get those chances, it was a little down to shrewdness from a striker and defensiveness on Liverpool's part," he claimed.
MMIX
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Xabi has slipped over, it is clear. The referee showed the card too quick
