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Reaction from Sunday's Premier League fixtures, with Rafael Benitez describing the way Antonio Valencia won a penalty for Manchester United as "strange".

Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool

Alex Ferguson: "(Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand) were fantastic, they were saying 'this is my type of game' and after that I said to myself 'keep those two fit and we've a marvellous chance against anyone'. Vidic today, in particular, was absolutely magnificent. So we have a very experienced back four and a very experienced goalkeeper and it gives us an outstanding chance, albeit there are seven difficult matches left."

Rafael Benitez: "We gave away the penalty too early - but there are doubts about the penalty. When you see the replay it is suspicious how he went to the ground. It is not clear but the way (Antonio Valencia) fell down... is strange. It made a big difference. We were playing well and had confidence and then one situation changed everything. Some decisions in the past have not been the best for us but I consider Howard Webb a good referee. The referees are professional. We know the influence of Sir Alex in everything but he is a good referee."

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Chelsea

Sam Allardyce: "It was really disappointing to go behind after a promising start. But then we held out well without really creating much quality in the final third. We put that right in the second half with the goal. I was really pleased with the second-half performance and deserved the draw in the end."

Carlo Ancelotti: "It has been a hard week, but every week is hard as you have to prepare for the games. It was a difficult game, with a lot of fight on the pitch. We tried to play football, but lost some confidence as they put us under pressure and won more second balls. We tried, but were unlucky. Now is a difficult moment, but we do not have to lose our confidence. We are behind now and have to catch up, but I think we can still do it. The pressure was already on us as we needed to win, but we did not. It is more difficult now, but we have to think about the game on Wednesday (at Portsmouth) and have to come back to win."

Fulham 1-2 Manchester City

Roy Hodgson: "I thought the team did remarkably well to come back and had much the better of the second half and came close to an equaliser. There was a great chance for (Stefano) Okaka that he unfortunately missed, and a penalty appeal that might have led to a second penalty. City were much happier to hear the final whistle than we were. We'd have played another 15 minutes, even with a big game on Wednesday."

Roberto Mancini: "It was an important win. Here, against Fulham, it's difficult. They're a good team and have a good manager. It was important for us, but it'll be a fight until the end of the season with the other three teams. Liverpool are a fantastic team, and I think we must fight with them, Aston Villa and Tottenham."

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