A PERFECT RESPONSE; Reds have answered critics says Rafa: It was perfect response from Reds - Benitez.

Byline: IAN DOYLE

DELIGHTED Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool delivered the "perfect response" to a difficult week with victory over Manchester United.

A 65th-minute strike from the returning Fernando Torres and an injury-time goal from substitute David Ngog earned the Anfield outfit a 2-0 home win over their bitter rivals yesterday.

Both teams ended the game with 10 men after Nemanja Vidic and Javier Mascherano were sent off in separate incidents during the closing moments for second bookable offences.

Liverpool's win halted a run of four successive defeats and eased the pressure on the beleaguered Benitez in front of watching American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

After losing 1-0 at Sunderland the previous Saturday, their Champions League hopes suffered a major setback with a 2-1 home reverse to Lyon in midweek.

And Benitez has praised his team - who were again missing injured skipper Steven Gerrard - for their reaction while imploring them to build on the Continued on Page 30

From Back Page momentum of yesterday's deserved triumph.

"We needed to win for our confidence so I think that this will be a big boost for the team because they have won against a good team," said the Liverpool manager .

"The fans are delighted and you can see that the players are also in the same mood and this has to be very positive.

"I am really pleased for the club, for the supporters and for the players. We knew that we needed to change, we knew that we needed a little bit of luck and we needed to win.

"It has been a fantastic result, maybe it was the perfect game because we knew that we had to perform against a good team in front of our own fans and it was a fantastic performance from the players .

"All the players do not want to lose games. They want to win and they want to show character and today was the perfect response from them."

Torres marked his comeback from the groin problem that ruled him out of the last two games by netting his ninth goal in as many Premier Leagues games this season.

Benitez had decided only hours before kick-off to risk starting with the striker, a gamble that paid off as Liverpool moved within four points of champions United.

And the Anfield manager said: "There wasn't a big difference (between the two teams). In games like this it is always the small details that make the difference.

Rafa Benitez Today we had some chances, they had one or two chances but I think that we were on top of them. from the beginning.

"Everyone was doing his job and when Torres scored his goal it made the difference.

"The team was working hard as a team and the fans were supporting the team from the first minute until the very last one like they always do and this made a difference also."

Liverpool shrugged off the absence of Gerrard to record their third successive win over United, and Benitez added: "I have said before, our players are good players so when people talk about our squad I always say the same thing - if you have four or five players injured and these are players that if they are fit they can be a problem for anyone then the rest of the team will support them.

"For me the difference is that the team was working so hard that it was easier for the forwards.

"I am sure that we have a good team and I think that if we can keep the momentum then we can win some games in a row.We have to believe that we can do it on Wednesday (against Arsenal) and then that we can continue against Fulham."

Benitez was also pleased with the performance of his defence, which kept a first clean sheet in the league for six weeks.

"I think that it is important to score, important to win but also to do it in this way with the team defending well," he said. "We had to defend a lot of set-pieces at the end, too many, and we defended them well so I am really pleased for Pepe and also for the defenders."

REPORT - theSCORE 6,7

CAPTION(S):

Pepe Reina and Emiliano Insua celebrate with Reds scorer David Ngog