Thrashing of Liverpool one of the worst days for Rooney

Wayne Rooney has described Manchester United's catastrophic Premier League defeat to Liverpool as "one of the worst days" he has ever had in football.

United were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at Old Trafford by their adversaries on Sunday; Steven Gerrard scored twice from the penalty spot and missed a third for his hat-trick, before Luis Suarez sealed a superb day for Brendan Rodgers' side.

To rub salt into the wound, Nemanja Vidic was shown a second yellow card after he conceded the third penalty, although it appeared that Daniel Sturridge had dived to win it.

Speaking to United's official television channel MUTV after the game, Rooney said of the loss: "It's a nightmare. It's one of the worst days I've ever had in football. It’s hard to take. You have to give Liverpool credit -- they played well -- but it’s difficult to take. Nobody wants to lose, especially in this way, in your own stadium. It’s not nice.

“To go behind by one penalty was hard to take. We had a game plan for the second half, which went out the window when they got the second penalty so early on. It made it an uphill battle to come back.

"I thought after that we had a couple of chances where I thought if we got one we could have gone for a second and maybe we could have done it. Obviously it didn’t happen, though. Then, to concede a third penalty, even though they missed, was a big blow to us. We were then chasing the game with 10 men. That made it difficult for us and they kept the ball well to see the game out. I haven’t seen the penalties back again but from where I was standing on the pitch I don’t think we can argue with them.”

The striker recently put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year deal that will earn him a record 300,000 pounds-a-week.

Defeat for United puts them 14 points behind their bitter rivals and 11 points off fourth place; this time last season, United were 29 points clear of Liverpool and on their way to a 20th top-flight crown.

However, under new manager David Moyes, United look certain to finish the season with only the Community Shield to their name.

Moyes must now boost his troop's morale for their upcoming Champions League last-16 second leg with Olympiakos at Old Trafford. They currently trail 2-0 in the tie and will need a surmountable turnaround if they are to chase European glory to save their season.