LIVERPOOL FC

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has defended has defended referee Martin Atkinson following Saturday's heated encounter with rivals .

Two players were dismissed, and another five were booked, in a game that will most likely be remembered for its rash tackles, rather than Dirk Kuyt's 55th-minute winner.

The dismissals of Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Steven Pienaar means there have now been 19 red cards in 36 Premier League derby showdowns.

"It was a very hard job for the referee because the players did not help him," Mascherano told The Liverpool Echo.

"It was a hard game with a lot of tackles but this is the way it is in derby matches, they don’t want to lose and we don’t want to lose. Sometimes you can see some hard tackles because of this.

"Soto [Kyrgiakos] said to us that he went for the ball, maybe he went in the wrong way but he went for the ball."

The red card for Kyrgiakos saw Mascherano forced to slot in as a makeshift right-back.

"Last season I played right-back against Sunderland," Mascherano said. "This time, it would have been difficult for the manager to make a sub at that time so maybe he preferred to move me into right-back and I tried to do my best.

"The way that we won made it even better. To be a man down for so long and to have to play with 10 men for almost 60 minutes was really difficult but the result shows how hard we worked.

"The most important thing is that the team continued to work hard and because of this we were able to win with 10 players.

"Maybe it wasn’t our best performance but the only thing that mattered was the win. Now we have to keep going."