LIVERPOOL: Rafa Benitez believes Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Manchester United will provide the impetus to get his side's spluttering title challenge back on track.

Benitez's team ended a run of four successive defeats in emphatic fashion as second-half goals from Fernando Torres and David Ngog breathed new life into a campaign that was in danger of spiralling out of control.

The Reds are still six points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea but that gap looks far less daunting than the 10-point divide that would have stood between them and United if the champions had won at Anfield on Sunday.

Instead of presiding over Liverpool's worst spell for 56 years - his fate if United had won - Benitez can now justifiably talk of a brighter future.

"We needed to win for the confidence, so I think it will be a big boost for the team," he said.

"All the players didn't want to lose. They wanted to show character and this was the perfect response.

"It was against a good team so the fans are delighted and then you can see all the players feel the same way. It has to be positive.

"Hopefully this will be a turning point. If we can keep the momentum I am sure we have a good team and can win some games in a row.

"We need to win against Arsenal in the League Cup on Wednesday and continue against Fulham on Saturday."

Benitez deserves tremendous credit for keeping his players focused while the flak was flying this week. Not only did the Spaniard ensure they kept their eye on the ball but he also came up with the perfect gameplan to subdue United.

His fiesty midfield trio of Javier Mascherano, Lucas and Fabio Aurelio never let United settle while Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt provided astute support for Torres.

Few strikers in Europe could have taken the chance Torres converted in the 65th minute when he took Benayoun's pass and left Rio Ferdinand for dead before lashing past Edwin van der Sar.

Nemanja Vidic's red card for a professional foul on Kuyt added to United's misery and Ngog finished off the champions in stoppage time after Mascherano had been dismissed for a second booking.

Yet without Torres the result could still have had a less appeticing look for Benitez, who took a last-minute decision to start the striker on the but journey to Anfield.

Torres had missed the past two matches with a groin strain and he was only able to take part in a couple of light training sessions ahead of the United game.

But, with Steven Gerrard already ruled out with a groin injury, Benitez realized it was worth gambling over Torres's fitness.

"It was difficult because he was not training much, he only had two light sessions and we couldn't push him too hard," Benitez said.

"I decided to play him from the beginning on Sunday morning after talking with Fernando on the bus to the game.

"Talking with him and the fitness coach we thought it was better to start him."

AFP