Blackburn Rovers 1 Liverpool 3Gerard Houllier last night branded Lucas Neill a "coward" after an X-ray showed the Blackburn defender's brutal challenge on Jamie Carragher had broken the England full-back's right leg.

Carragher, who joined his team-mate Milan Baros in hospital after the Czech fractured an ankle early in Saturday's rancorous win, will be out for up to six months. Neill, dismissed for the third time as a Rover despite raucous and mystifying protests, will miss a relatively paltry three games.

"It was a coward's challenge," said Houllier. "It shows you the force of the tackle when the lad's leg has been broken and he's been wearing shin-pads. Neill's reaction was as appalling because he then complained about being sent off.

"I am gutted for Jamie. He won't be able to play for another six months but Neill will be playing again in three matches. I said after the game it was a tackle that could have resulted in a broken leg and, sadly, that is what has happened. I can imagine what Graeme Souness would have said if one of his players had had their leg broken in a similar way."

What should have ended a sumptuous victory has delivered a snarling legacy, and the mayhem of the opening 13 minutes will haunt Liverpool well into the New Year. Baros lay crumpled on the turf within the first two minutes of this combustible contest, the Czech falling awkwardly under a legal challenge by his former team-mate Markus Babbel and breaking his right ankle. The sides had exchanged goals by the time Carragher was assaulted by Neill near the touchline, the Australian airborne and spiteful as his studs bit into the defender's leg.

With the stretcher yet to be returned to the touchline after Baros's exit, Carragher was carried away by the first-team coach Sammy Lee and physio Dave Galley.

"I would rather have lost the game than have lost two players to serious injury," added Houllier, "but I didn't like the way in which the match was played at all."

The bitter undercurrent was typified by David Thompson's wild-eyed presence in the Blackburn midfield. One fist thrust at John Arne Riise - the Norwegian has had a bruising week, what with his scrap with his team-mate John Carew while on international duty - was missed by the overworked referee, Neale Barry, though the fourth official may include it in his match report.

Matt Jansen's stunning opener, the loose ball flicked one way then the other to flummox Carragher before careering beyond Jerzy Dudek, had shown what Blackburn were capable of when blessed with a full compliment. By the end, with debutant Barry Ferguson visibly flagging under Steven Gerrard's busy energy in an outnumbered midfield, they were horribly exposed and duly overrun.

Brad Friedel thwarted Michael Owen - whose running off the ball throughout was magnificent - four times yet the England striker still converted Vladimir Smicer's pass to establish a lead Liverpool never looked like surrendering.

That was added to his early penalty, conceded by Vratislav Gresko on the irrepressible El Hadji Diouf.

Harry Kewell speared a late third, though the victory was soured by Liverpool's losses.

Baros underwent a two-hour operation at a Manchester hospital on Saturday night to insert a metal plate into his right ankle.