Reds keep hopes alive

Liverpool boosted their lingering Premier League title hopes with a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at Anfield.

Ngog rescues Liverpool's faint Premier League ambitions

Liverpool boosted lingering hopes of the Premier League trophy making its way to Anfield in May with a 2-0 home victory over Sunderland on Tuesday night. With a couple of exceptions - a dramatic late win over Chelsea and a UEFA Champions League success at Real Madrid - the Reds' season has nosedived since the turn of the year, but midweek goals from David Ngog and Yossi Benayoun raised morale on Merseyside. Behind-the-scenes rumours regarding the future of Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez have gathered pace in 2009, while a January FA Cup elimination to derby rivals Everton came at a time when the club were in the process of surrendering top spot to arch foes Manchester United. Middlesbrough piled on the misery with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool on Saturday, however, three days later, Benitez's side - who have now played two games more than United - closed the gap on the champions to four points. The first half ended goalless, but Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones should have put the visitors in front in the opening minutes when one-on-one with Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina, who stood tall and dived low to his right to save. But after the interval Steven Gerrard miscued a header from an Albert Riera cross, and Ngog, making his first Anfield start, was in the right place to turn in from close range on 52 minutes. And 13 minutes later scorer turned provided as Benayoun doubled Liverpool's lead after Sunderland goalkeeper Marton Fulop had horribly spilled an Ngog cross-shot. Benitez made four changes from the side that lost to Middlesbrough and he chose to use Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano at right-back.

Options

Sunderland made only one change from the side that drew at Arsenal last time out, with Grant Leadbitter taking over from the injured Teemu Tainio. Benitez is clearly running out of options at right-back, with Alvaro Arbeloa still injured. Jamie Carragher seems not to fancy the job any more so Mascherano was removed from his critical ball-winning midfield role to fill the void. It left Liverpool with almost a 4-4-2, with Gerrard and Xabi Alonso in centre of midfield. Dirk Kuyt's roving role behind Ngog meant the French teenager was left on his own against Danny Collins and Anton Ferdinand. And he did pretty well at times. His pace and energy not quite able to make up for the loss of Fernando Torres' brilliance, but Ngog certainly showed spirit. Sunderland should have been ahead after just four minutes when Jones ran clear after Martin Skrtel's slip, but Reina saved well to his right. Gerrard, twice, Ngog and Riera all had shots charged down, while Fulop saved well to his left to keep out a Kuyt drive. Ngog's enthusiasm got the better of him when he was then booked after 15 minutes for a foul on Tal Ben-Haim. Fulop made an outstanding save after 31 minutes, finger-tipping the ball away at full-stretch from his right post, when Riera's low drive was deflected off Leadbitter. Mascherano then saw a dipping 30-yard effort graze the bar, before Emiliano Insua, Alonso and Gerrard all tried their luck with Sunderland increasingly forced back into their box on defence.

Inspired

One break inspired by a fine Gerrard tackle on Kieran Richardson allowed Ngog to set up Mascherano on the right, but his drive was into the side-netting. Liverpool started the second period at a higher tempo, with Benayoun willing to run at defenders. And it was Benayoun who swept the ball out to Riera on the left to pave the way for Liverpool to take the lead after 52 minutes. Riera sent over a deep cross that Gerrard headed back into the six-yard box for Ngog to fire home his first league goal for the club. Sunderland were forced to come forward, and Steed Malbranque saw a shot from the right fly over the bar. After 62 minutes Sunderland brought on Djibril Cisse for Leadbitter, the former Liverpool man getting a rousing reception from the Anfield crowd. Four minutes later Liverpool got their second. Again Ngog was involved, hooking the ball back across goal for Fulop to fumble and Benayoun punished the error. The next ovation was for Ngog. He had been struggling with cramp and was replaced by Lucas Leiva after 71 minutes. Lucas, with a header, and fellow substitute Ryan Babel - shooting from the edge of the box - threatened to extend the lead, before Nabil El Zhar came on for Benayoun in the final minute.

Liverpool	Team Statistics	Sunderland
2	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
8	Shots on Target	2
13	Shots off Target	4
10	Blocked Shots	1
7	Corners	2
10	Fouls	6
2	Offsides	2
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
85	Passing Success	70
20	Tackles	19
85	Tackles Success	68.4
63.2	Possession	36.8
53.3	Territorial Advantage	46.7