Fernando Torres grabbed his first goal for Liverpool, but the hosts were left furious with the penalty decision that gave Frank Lampard a spot-kick equaliser after Florent Malouda had gone down under a challenge from Steve Finnan.

Gerrard snapped: "I think a very, very unfair decision has got Chelsea a point today. But I think we proved today we are capable of challenging.

"I felt the referee didn't play well today. There was a lot of pressure from the Chelsea players and I thought he eventually cracked."

Mourinho's view on the crucial penalty was: "I have not really seen the penalty properly, only from 30 metres away on the sidelines.

"In the box there is no advantage law, if the referee sees a foul he gives a penalty. So when Malouda is kicked from behind as he lets to ball run to Drogba, then it is a penalty.

"It is to be discussed by commentators, just like they discussed the goal we lost the Champions League semi-final here by two years ago.

"As for the title race, it is too early to judge opponents. Manchester United have two points after their defeat today, but even if they had zero points I would say that they are serious contenders for the title, these things do not influence me."