SO the torment goes on for Liverpool’s supporters. After the weekend pain at the Riverside, Rafael Benitez’s side delivered their fans a huge dollop of frustration last night.

The Anfield outfit secured only their third league victory in eight games with a deserved triumph against Sunderland.

This was that rare breed; a relatively comfortable home league win. But the fact the final whistle was met with only muted cheers demonstrated the overriding emotion from Liverpool supporters that this was too little, too late.

The shameful surrender at Middlesbrough on Saturday had realistically ended any hopes of the title and consigned Benitez’s side to a three-way scrap for second place behind Manchester United.

At least Liverpool’s players responded to the call from their manager for a reaction to that Riverside debacle.

David Ngog marked his first Anfield league start by opening his Premier League account in the 52nd minute to end a stubborn Sunderland resistance.

The 19-year-old Frenchman then turned provider 13 minutes later when, aided by an error from Black Cats goalkeeper Marton Fulop, Yossi Benayoun followed on from his goalscoring heroics at the Bernabeu to double the advantage.

But even in victory, Liverpool highlighted some of the shortcomings that have debilitated their title challenge since the turn of the year.

They certainly made hard work of it before Ngog’s opener, once again hampered by the inability to turn decent early possession into tangible reward.

Anyone requiring any evidence of how Benitez’s side have struggled to break down teams at Anfield need only consider this statistic: Liverpool have now scored just seven first-half goals in their last 15 home league games.

Benitez cannot afford to let his team’s domestic campaign to fizzle out, particularly with a revived Chelsea on the march. Automatic qualification to the Champions League is a bare minimum.

Although Sunderland hover precariously above the relegation zone, the Wearsiders have become a much sterner proposition with Ricky Sbragia at the helm, losing only three of 11 games since his appointment, the most recent of which was a goalless draw at Arsenal.