Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez hailed his side's character in their 2-0 victory over Sunderland which breathed some life back into their Premier League season.

Anything but a victory on Tuesday night at Anfield would have left them with no chance of catching leaders Manchester United, but success means they sit just four points off the summit.

Benitez said: "We needed a win, the team needed to show character and that is what they produced."

He added: "All we can do is keep winning our matches. The defeat at Middlesbrough at the weekend was very disappointing, and the team needed to show character. This win has lifted everyone's spirits after the bad defeat at the weekend."

French teenager David Ngog scored his first league goal for the club and helped create the second goal for the impressive Yossi Benayoun.

Along with Chelsea, who won at Portsmouth, Liverpool cut the champions lead at the top to four points, although Manchester United still have two games in hand over both clubs.

Benitez was also delighted with Ngog, and added: "Ngog did a very good job, he scored an excellent goal and that gave him confidence. Benayoun too was excellent while we needed Jose Reina to make a very good save before we had scored.

"If they had scored early on when (Kenwyne) Jones got through, it could have been a lot more difficult.

"Generally we needed to keep calm, to find space and to be patient. We needed to find a win after the weekend defeat.

"Now it will be important to win our next league game at Manchester United. If we can do that things may well be a lot different at the top of the table."