Brendan Rodgers has leapt to the defence of striker Luis Suarez following the striker's handball in Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Mansfield in the FA Cup on Sunday.
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Daniel Sturridge, who made his debut, scored his first goal for the Reds in the early stages of the game, before Suarez doubled the visitor's lead in the second half.
The goal sparked controversy, however, as the Uruguayan was labelled a 'cheat' for handling the ball before putting it in the back of the net.
Despite outrage from the football fraternity around the world, Rodgers was adamant that the officials did indeed see the incident and ruled it as unintentional.
"I've just seen it again and there's no doubt it was handball, but the referee and the officials ruled it wasn't deliberate," he told SkySports.
"I spoke to the fourth official when it was given because I couldn't see and he said it was (handball), so I can only assume they thought it wasn't deliberate.
"Obviously it was unfortunate for Mansfield and lucky for us that we got the goal, but it was a really professional performance from us."
The forward has been lambasted in the media following the incident and it's been widely suggested that he should have admitted the handball to the referee, but the former Swansea boss disagrees with this notion.
"It's not Luis' job to do that," he added.
"It's not deliberate, as it's pushed up and hit his hand. It's up to the officials to decide that.
"That's why they get paid as officials and I thought Andre Marriner was brilliant today.
"Maybe when you lose the game you look back on it and think it was unfortunate. We missed many more chances to put the game to bed but we got a wee bit of luck there, so it's something we'll take and move on."
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