Chelsea salvaged a 1-1 draw only after securing a highly disputable second-half penalty when Florent Malouda and Steve Finnan were involved in what looked like an entirely innocent collision.

There was then further controversy when Michael Essien was spared a sending-off after it appeared that the Ghanaian was shown a second yellow card by referee Rob Styles.

Styles, however, later insisted that he had shown the card to John Terry, who had not picked up an earlier booking and was one of nine players to be cautioned during a heated match.

"A very, very unfair decision has got Chelsea a point," said Liverpool's captain Steven Gerrard. "I felt the referee didn't play well. There was a lot of pressure from Chelsea players. I hope he [the referee] comes out and holds his hands up." Mourinho rejected the allegation and instead pointed the finger at Liverpool, accusing Alvaro Arbeloa of a "jump" for Essien's first booking.

"I think I have a naive team," he said. "They are clean, we don't have divers, we don't have violent people, we don't have nasty tackles, we don't have people diving into the swimming pool. It is a pure team.

"Overall, I think Mr Styles had a positive game. So many times you are unfortunate, especially in this stadium. It is a difficult game for the referee, not every player on the pitch is trying to help the referee.

"If the referee sees a foul it is immediately a penalty. So when Malouda opens the legs to let the ball go to Didier Drogba and is kicked from behind, I think it is a penalty."

Benitez could not contain his exasperation at Mourinho's assessment of Chelsea. "You can check the tape and see how many times they do things he says they don't do," he said. "I don't want to give any names but I remember a lot of situations in the last three years and today you could see the players talking all the time.

"It is unbelievable. It [the penalty] is a mistake. How can you change a game like this? There were 45,000 people and no-one could see the penalty."

Although Mourinho was the happier manager at the end of what was a 16th clash against Liverpool in the space of just three years, Benitez could take heart from his team's performance. "We are going to have to focus and keep it up for nine months," he said.

It means Chelsea have extended their early lead over Manchester United to five points while Liverpool are two points ahead of the champions with a game in hand.

"It is too early to look at opponents," said Mourinho. "Even if they [Man United] had zero points I would say they are still contenders." Gerrard, who passed for Fernando Torres to put Liverpool into the lead, took a pain-killing injection so that he could play with a broken toe but will have an x-ray today which is expected to confirm that he can play no part in England's friendly on Wednesday against Germany.

"I need to rest now to get this crack ready for the big qualifiers for England - I think the central thing is to make sure I'm ready for the big games," he said.