Matino

Rafael Benitez hailed Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Manchester United as the 'perfect response' and urged his side to use the triumph to embark upon a winning streak.

The Reds brought a run of four straight defeats to an end with a dominant win against the Red Devils, leaving the boss delighted by his team's show of character in what was his 200th league match in charge.

"I am really pleased for the club, the players and the staff. We knew we needed to change our luck and it was a fantastic victory," he told his post-match press conference.

"Before we were talking about how it was maybe the perfect game to respond, and it proved to be the case. We needed to produce a performance against a good team in front of our fans and I think it was a fantastic performance from the players.

"It was important to score and to win, but it was also important to do it in the way we did, with the team defending well. They had some set pieces at the end but we defended well, so I am really pleased for Pepe and the defenders.

"We needed the three points for our confidence, so I think it will be a big boost for the team, especially because it is against a good side. The fans are delighted and you can see that the players are in the same mood. It is very positive, but we have a game in three days so we need to be ready.

"If we can keep the momentum, I am sure we a have good team that can win games in a row, but we have to try and win on Wednesday and then continue against Fulham.

"The players didn't want to lose. We wanted to win and show character and today was the perfect response."

After dominating throughout the first period, the Reds finally made the breakthrough courtesy of a sublime strike from the returning Fernando Torres (picture).

Substitute David Ngog made sure of the points in stoppage time, but Benitez felt the opening goal was the crucial factor in Liverpool's success.

"There wasn't much difference between the teams," he said. "As always, the small details can be the difference between two big teams.

"Today they had one or two chances but I think we were on top of them from the beginning, and everyone was doing his job. When Torres scored the goal it made the difference.

"For me, the team was working hard and all the fans, from first to the last, were supporting."

Asked about his decision to start Torres, following the forward's injury, Benitez said: "It was a difficult decision because he was not training, just like Gerrard.

"We needed to decide what to do and talked with him. We decided it was better to start with him. You could see he wasn't 100 per cent fit.

"You could see he was not fresh, but sometimes 80 per cent of Fernando can make a difference.

"We knew he could score, but we knew he was not 100 per cent fit and had to take care of him. We were waiting to replace him, but we knew we had to time it right because we were doing well.

"He had two light training sessions leading up to the game. The main thing, was that he was working with the physios and the fitness coach to make sure he was not at risk.

"He wasn't a risk, so we chose to start with him."

*Source from www.liverpoolfc.tv