RAFAEL BENITEZ has escaped with just a warning for a “humorous” gesture made about referee Phil Dowd following Liverpool’s opening-day defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

And the Spaniard was yesterday cleared of two further Football Association charges brought against him after the 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane on August 16.

Benitez attended a five-hour independent Regulatory Commission at Manchester City’s Eastlands stadium that considered the charges of improper conduct levelled at the Anfield manager.

The Spaniard was cleared of one charge in reference to him suggesting 26-year-old Stuart Attwell, the fourth official at Tottenham, was too young to officiate at Premier League level.

Benitez also avoided censure for expressing his displeasure at the failure of Dowd, who had earlier awarded a penalty to Liverpool, to hand the visitors another spot kick for a foul on substitute Andriy Voronin by saying: “Can you get two penalties at an away ground? No. With this referee, I knew that this was impossible.”

But the Liverpool manager was found guilty of misconduct relating to the third charge, a gesture made with a pair of spectacles when asked about Dowd’s performance which was deemed to be “offensive”.

However, Benitez avoided a fine or a touchline ban and was instead warned about his future conduct, with Liverpool claiming the Commission accepted the gesture was meant as a joke.

In an unlikely development, the FA was also criticised by their own independent Regulatory Commission for failing to censure another manager for a similar gesture the same weekend as Benitez’s.

This was in reference to Crystal Palace’s Neil Warnock who, unhappy at seeing a perfectly good ‘goal’ not count at Bristol City, had responded to questions about the incident by gesturing with an imaginary pair of glasses.