London, Oct.18 (ANI): Rafa Benitez has refused to blame the beach ball fiasco for all but ending Liverpool’s title challenge at the Stadium of Light yesterday.

Liverpool went down to their fourth Premier League defeat of the season - but the winning goal from Darren Bent was surrounded in controversy, reports The News of The World.

Benitez did not hide behind the error, rapping his side for a defeat that raises huge question marks about their ability to challenge for the title.

He said: “We didn’t play well, that is the main thing for me. These things happen. It is a bad situation for us as it was in the middle and very influential. It is a technical question but on this occasion it has to be a goal and that is it.”

“We made mistakes, we gave the ball away and when we had chances we didn’t convert them. We have to come back if we want to win these kind of games. You have to analyse things, see if we are making mistakes. We have to improve,” he added.

Benitez, however, has refused to accept that the title is now out of his side’s grasp.

“The priority is to talk about the three points in every single game,” he said. (ANI)