DELIGHTED Rafael Benitez believes Liverpool delivered the “perfect response” to a difficult week with victory over Manchester United.

A 65th-minute strike from the returning Fernando Torres and an injury-time goal from substitute David Ngog earned the Anfield outfit a 2-0 home win over their bitter North West rivals yesterday.

Both teams ended the game with 10 men after Nemanja Vidic and Javier Mascherano were sent off in separate incidents during the closing moments for second bookable offences.

Liverpool’s win halted a run of four successive defeats and eased the pressure on the beleaguered Benitez in front of watching American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

After losing 1-0 at Sunderland the previous Saturday, their Champions League hopes suffered a major setback with a 2-1 home reverse to Lyon in midweek.

And Benitez has praised his team – who were again missing injured skipper Steven Gerrard – for their reaction while imploring them to build on the momentum of yesterday’s deserved triumph.

“We needed to win for our confidence so I think that this will be a big boost for the team because they have won against a good team,” said the Liverpool manager.

“The fans are delighted and you can see that the players are also in the same mood and this has to be very positive.

“I am really pleased for the club, for the supporters and for the players. We knew that we needed to change, we knew that we needed a little bit of luck and we needed to win.

“It has been a fantastic result, maybe it was the perfect game because we knew that we had to perform against a good team in front of our own fans and it was a fantastic performance from the players.

“All the players do not want to lose games. They want to win and they want to show character and today was the perfect response from them.”

Torres marked his comeback from the groin problem that ruled him out of the last two games by netting his ninth goal in as many Premier Leagues games this season.