Cisse's celebrations at St James' Park in front of the home supporters resulted in some nasty exchanges with the Newcastle fans and the player was cautioned by referee Mike Riley for lifting up his jersey to reveal a T-shirt containing a message to his family.

But while tempers flared at the time, Benitez is satisfied that the French striker did not overstep the mark.

He said: "I talked to him at the end of the game and as it was a message to his son and family, I don't think it was a serious incident.

"As a player, you feel you need to score and for him it was really important.

"He has said sorry. He had spent a long time trying to score a goal and his reaction was normal."

The player himself has apologisesd for his actions and claimed that he did not intend to be disrespectful.

Cisse said: "I didn't intend to be rude. I was just really happy to score a goal after such a long time because scoring goals is what I love doing.

"I want to make it clear I respect the Newcastle supporters and if they thought I was being disrespectful to them, then I obviously apologise for that.

"Like all the strikers at the club, I have been desperate to find the net again and when the penalty went in, I was absolutely delighted.

"But, if my celebrations appeared disrespectful, that certainly wasn't my intention."

Meanwhile, due to the Reds' hectic schedule, Benitez has not yet had time to finalise the details over his contract extension but he insists that this is purely down to his busy workload.

He said: "It is not easy to keep in touch when you're preparing for all these games.

"But it is not a problem and in the end, I'll stay here."