Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard had no complaints after their 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.
Mohamed Salah struck the spot to mark Gerrard's return to Anfield with defeat.
He told liverpoolfc.com: "Box to box, Liverpool were a level above. I thought they showed their quality at times and you can really see why they are competing for league titles and competing in Europe until the latter stages, if not favourites to go and win it. I thought we did a good containing job on Liverpool for large periods; the plan was to take it to the latter stages and then throw more ambition and more quality players at it from the side and try to make Liverpool nervous. But the penalty incident is obviously a huge blow to us.
"Look, I had to accept it was going to be emotional for me and my family. Of course it is; 17 years as a player and also coming here as an eight-year-old boy. I've spent many years and given a lot of my life to this football club. For me, it was trying to control that, trying to control the outside noise and be respectful to Aston Villa.
"I thought our fans were terrific today. But I also respect the ovation I got and the relationship with the Liverpool fans. But the priority here was obviously Aston Villa."
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