AFTER all the pre-match gunsmoke had cleared, all that remained was the football.

English football's tinderbox derby passed by largely without incident after days of inter-city tension and the emotive backdrop of Hillsborough.

Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra exchanged the briefest of handshakes and fans on both sides in the main acknowledged the pre-kick-off tributes

But it was Manchester United who yesterday left Anfield with the spoils of victory ... while Liverpool were left nursing a grievance over the 2-1 defeat.

Manager Brendan Rodgers insisted the best team lost and blamed mistakes by referee Mark Halsey for contributing to their first loss to Manchester United at Anfield since 2007.

The Reds dominated for the majority of the match, even after Jonjo Shelvey's 39th-minute red card for a two-footed lunge on Jonny Evans, but lost 2-1.

Steven Gerrard's volley gave his side the lead seconds after the interval, but Rafael curled in an equaliser before Robin van Persie scored United's first penalty of the season after Glen Johnson was adjudged to have brought down Antonio Valencia.

However, Rodgers took issue with the sending-off, the penalty and Halsey's decision not to award Liverpool a spot-kick when Luis Suarez was felled in the second half.

"We are bitterly disappointed with the result, I thought the best team lost," he said.

"Of what we could control I thought the players and performance level was outstanding, what we couldn't control were decisions by the referee.

"If Shelvey gets sent off for having both feet off the ground then Evans has to get sent off for that as well if you watch the replays. Jonjo is coming in from the side, it is a tackle the player has to go for and one the United player has to go for but the Liverpool player can't get sent off and the United one stay on the field.

"I thought it was very harsh and that was how it was throughout the game as a number of poor decisions went against us. The penalty was never a penalty. Johnson has made a fantastic recovery back in and I have no idea why Valencia goes down.

"Up the other end Suarez gets a toe on the ball, gets contact, goes down and doesn't get the penalty. It was one of the those days where we never got any decision which could have helped us at all."

As Shelvey departed the field he had an angry exchange with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

The midfielder apologised for the tackle but not for his reaction afterwards. Ferguson was bemused by the 20-year-old's reaction.

"He blamed me! But he is young and he will realise the stupidity of it," said the Scot.

"Jonny Evans went for the ball but Shelvey was nowhere near and could have given Jonny Evans a really bad injury."

Ferguson almost agreed with Rodgers in his assessment of the match, although not over the United penalty.

"I thought we were poor. Over the last four years we have allowed the (Anfield) crowd to get at us a little bit," he added.

"They gave fantastic support to their team and they dominated. No doubts about the penalty though, it was reckless. We haven't played well here for four years, but at least we got a result. It is a turning point for us."