Late in the second half Smicer was tackled heavily by Darren Garner and jumped up to complain.

He went down once when Garner pushed him, and then a second time when Paul Warne repeated the shove as the incident threatened to get out of hand.

Only Warne was booked, although Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier believed at least one Rotherham player should have been sent off.

But the Yorkshire side's boss openly accused Smicer of cheating after the game. He said: "Some of the things that went on out there were ridiculous. Smicer dived and then jumped up, it was ridiculous for a professional player.

"Warne was booked for adopting an aggressive attitude but the lad fell to the floor. There was no need for that.

"Smicer does like a dive. He was getting 9.9 all afternoon, maybe he should be in a diving team."

Houllier saw the incident differently, saying: "He was fouled, jumped up and was pushed. He didn't fake it. I couldn't believe that he was pushed and their player got away with it.

"What did Smicer do? He had been tackled, that's all. And Vladimir has never kicked anyone in his life, it was a joke.

"To say otherwise is to suggest he has attributes that he just doesn't have."

Houllier was also angry over the red card for Croatian youngster Igor Biscan, and particularly the second yellow card for a trip on Paul Hurst.

He said: "In the first half a foul on Michael Owen took place right in front of me that was the same, but the player who committed the foul didn't get booked.