Victoria Benitez Cheers

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez happy for the center to return to on-field questions after his side opened their Barclays Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory at Sunderland today.

Fernando Torres' low shot from the edge of the area with seven minutes remaining was enough for Liverpool in the Stadium of Light in a fast but scrappy game.

Following recent speculation about his future at Anfield, Benitez was able to examine a good victory on Wednesday after Champions League campaign at Standard Liege. "You could see that the team focused on reality," he said.

"We want to concentrate on winning, and the best news for fans is to win games. In the first half, they were attacked; the second half, we were at the top and attack - and continued until the end. We had chances. Torres is a key player and can change games. For the team, is really important to have this type of players."

Xabi Alonso's future with Liverpool also has been questioned during the summer and had to wait until half an hour before being introduced as a substitute for the injured Damien Plessis.

Benitez claimed the Spanish had suffered a dead leg ahead of the game and Alonso encogió outside talk about dissatisfaction to express its satisfaction with the work of the afternoon. "We are delighted and pleased that we achieved the first three points," said Alonso.

"After not a very good game (against Liege) is important to get points to regain the confidence and we must continue. This is a professional performance, probably not the best, but we knew it would be difficult because they are a good team that signed good players'.

Alonso added: "It's important to win the Premier League after so many years and focus on that '.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane was happy with his team-screen despite the unfavorable outcome. "I am delighted with the performance - in general terms I thought the players did very well, 'she said.

"It's a fine line at this level and we saw what Torres is capable of doing. When we played Liverpool last year I was hoping for a result, today I hoped - that progress'.--espn--