Torres wins it for Liverpool - but Rafa knows tough decisions must be made

Fernando Torres's one moment of brilliance, in the one second he was fatally given space by his energetic markers, may have given a winning start, but it is the future of two other Spaniards which overshadowed a fortunate win.

Rafael Benitez is unlikely to spit his dummy out so far that he will tend his resignation as Liverpool manager, but he is clearly unhappy with his relationships with chief executive Rick Parry and owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. He struggles to hide it as much as he does to explain it.

Stadium of strikes: Torres bangs in the game's only goal as Liverpool win away at Sunderland

'It is something I can't explain,' he admitted. `It is clear that they support me if we had the money. If you have support, you can make decisions.'

Step forward Xabi Alonso. Popular with Liverpool supporters, he entered at the break for the ineffective and injured Damien Plessis who seemed incapable of running further than the centre circle and passing to any one other than a bemused and subdued Steven Gerrard.

Despite the dead leg which left him on the bench, Alonso changed the game in Liverpool's favour. He supplied the 83rd minute pass when Torres finally shook off Nyron Nosworthy and Danny Collins to bury a long-range shot past Craig Gordon. This came after Alonso's own 70-yard shot had only narrowly avoided embarrassing the Sunderland keeper.

Linked with Juventus and Arsenal, Alonso has a £12million price tag which would go some way to funding the arduous pursuit of Gareth Barry.

Alonso, Benitez conceded, has shown no particular desire to leave Anfield but he is apparently one of the few who does understand his manager's desire to sign a newly-established England international who could go some way to solving the problem position on the left.

It could be that Alonso will stay and Barry still join from Aston Villa for £18m which would suit the Liverpool manager and the supporters.

He's looking Xabi: Benitez has been speaking about the Spanish star's potential move away from Anfield

He said: `I talked to Xabi and explained why I needed money by selling players. We need eight British players and I needed a left footed player.

`When I was talking with him, we needed the money. After some months, it was not a question of money, it was a question of keeping the balance. Now, I don't know. We will have to receive a massive offer because Xabi is a good player. The question is have we done things in the right order or not.'

The only uncertainties surrounding Torres are his ability to shake off the excesses of Euro 2008 and his partnership with Robbie Keane. It is still in its infancy, which may explain why Keane blocked Torres's only other effort on goal, although their apologetic reaction is no doubt encouraging for Benitez.

Sunderland's performance will give some encouragement to Roy Keane and his supporters although it underlined the necessity to purchase a goalscorer and a solid, reliable centre-half. He hopes to land Benni McCarthy and Anton Ferdinand this week.

The improvement in the quality of their football and squad will mean nothing if Sunderland cannot match that with some points as they try to overcome a testing start which moves to Tottenham before Manchester City visit.

Keane said: `We have improved with the quality we’ve brought in but we need to beat the teams down with us. If we play like that against other teams we’ll win a lot of games.

'I’ve been saying that we still need more players and this doesn’t change my mind-set on that. '

Sunderland: (4-4-2): Gordon 6; Chimbonda 5, Nosworthy 6, Collins 7, Bardsley 7; Malbranque 7 (Edwards 73 mins, 5), Tainio 6 (Whitehead 57, 6), Reid 7, Richardson 6; Diouf 7 (Chopra 81), Murphy 6.

Liverpool (4-4-2): Reina 6; Arbeloa 5, Carragher 6, Hyypia 5, Dossena 5; Kuyt 7, Gerrard 6, Plessis 4 (Alonso 46, 8), Benayoun 7 (Aurelio 81); Keane 6 (El Zahr 77,), Torres 6. Booked: Arbeloa, El Zahr.
Man of the match: Xabi Alonso
Referee: Alan Wiley.