Glen Johnson accuses Antonio Valencia of cheating to win penalty which led to Man United's victory over Liverpool FC
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GLEN JOHNSON has accused Manchester United's Antonio Valencia of "cheating" to win a decisive penalty at Anfield - and insists the referee would not have given Liverpool FC a spot-kick if it was Luis Suarez who had gone down in the box.
Robin Van Persie converted an 81st minute spot-kick to hand Alex Ferguson's men victory against 10-man Liverpool on Sunday.
Referee Mark Halsey ruled that Johnson had brought down Valencia in the area but television replays strongly suggest there was no contact from the Reds' defender.
To add to Liverpool's frustrations, they were denied a penalty when Suarez fell under a challenge from Johnny Evans in the second half and Johnson believes the Uruguayan's reputation goes before him.
The England full-back has watched the incident with Valencia countless times and with each viewing his sense of hardship grows.
"I've watched it 50 times in there, not that I needed to - it's not a penalty," said the 28-year-old.
"I didn't touch him. I collided with Pepe, I didn't touch Valencia at all.
"The referee told me he had to give it. He thought I touched him. There was no point me arguing with him on the pitch afterwards because he had already given it.
"It's so frustrating because I've not touched him.
"It's cheating at the end of the day. You don't expect people to do that. This is one of the best leagues in the world and you've got people doing that."
Liverpool played over 50 minutes with 10 men at Anfield and despite their numerical disadvantage, took the lead just after half-time when captain Steven Gerrard struck.
United would equalise through Rafael but the home side remained positive and thought they had made a breakthrough when Suarez went down after Evans appeared to have tripped him in the area.
Referee Halsey thought otherwise, however, and Johnson believes his team-mate is being unfairly treated.
Such is Johnson's disappointment in the officiating from Sunday that he believes had it been Suarez who tumbled in the area, as Valencia did, then the Reds would not have won a penalty.
"I almost guarantee that if you flip it and Luis was the one who I was chasing and it's exactly the same situation with Luis rather than Valencia, then it wouldn't have been a penalty," he said.
"We all know that. Reputations go in front of people at times.
"Maybe because Valencia isn't a known diver maybe that's why he got the decision. I know it's difficult for the referee when players are sprinting as fast as they can but in the big games those decisions are the difference.
"We expect referees to make the right decisions because we are working as hard as we can to win the game. To have it taken away like that, I can't explain it.
"Everyone has to do their job. They have to forget who they are looking at and make the decisions, not let anything from the past influence their decision. They have to call the shots at the time regardless of who it is."
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