Rafael Benitez has expressed his satisfaction with Liverpool's narrow victory over Portsmouth, despite a less than brilliant display from his team.
Many were expecting Liverpool to come crashing back to reality following their fantastic win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. They did, although an inexplicable brain-fade from Papa Bouba Diop allowed Steven Gerrard to fire his side to a 1-0 win from the penalty sport.
The hosts dominated proceedings but couldn't breach David James' goal from open play, leaving the Kopites somewhat deflated despite being top of the table.
But Benitez told the club's official website: "Clearly the win was more important than the performance. After the victory against Chelsea it was important to get the three points tonight.
"We changed four players and still won the game and the message for the squad and everyone is we can make changes and still win. We used players with different qualities and we always had belief we would score."
Wednesday night's performance was eerily reminiscent of the frustrating 0-0 draw against Stoke City which followed Liverpool's victory over Manchester United last month.
But Benitez chose to focus on the positives, insisting that his players did well considering Pompey stacked their defence.
"Portsmouth are a good team and we needed to be patient and keep passing the ball and creating opportunities. Being patient was the key word for us tonight," the Spaniard said.
"Everybody could see Portsmouth were defending well and they had a lot of bodies behind the ball so it was not easy to find the space. So we had to be precise with our final pass.
"We were very dominant in the first half and controlled the game. We had our chances and we regained the ball quickly.
"I thought the second half was more open and at the end we were a little nervous because they were playing a lot of long balls up to Crouch.
"I don't remember Pepe having a shot to save. Okay, we won the game with a penalty but we had other chances."
Liverpool will take on a rejuvenated Tottenham Hotspur this weekend as they seek to cement their spot at the summit of the Premier League standings.
Benitez added: "We will try to be at the top of the table for a long time but our idea as always is to think about one game at a time and the next three points."
Many were expecting Liverpool to come crashing back to reality following their fantastic win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. They did, although an inexplicable brain-fade from Papa Bouba Diop allowed Steven Gerrard to fire his side to a 1-0 win from the penalty sport.
The hosts dominated proceedings but couldn't breach David James' goal from open play, leaving the Kopites somewhat deflated despite being top of the table.
But Benitez told the club's official website: "Clearly the win was more important than the performance. After the victory against Chelsea it was important to get the three points tonight.
"We changed four players and still won the game and the message for the squad and everyone is we can make changes and still win. We used players with different qualities and we always had belief we would score."
Wednesday night's performance was eerily reminiscent of the frustrating 0-0 draw against Stoke City which followed Liverpool's victory over Manchester United last month.
But Benitez chose to focus on the positives, insisting that his players did well considering Pompey stacked their defence.
"Portsmouth are a good team and we needed to be patient and keep passing the ball and creating opportunities. Being patient was the key word for us tonight," the Spaniard said.
"Everybody could see Portsmouth were defending well and they had a lot of bodies behind the ball so it was not easy to find the space. So we had to be precise with our final pass.
"We were very dominant in the first half and controlled the game. We had our chances and we regained the ball quickly.
"I thought the second half was more open and at the end we were a little nervous because they were playing a lot of long balls up to Crouch.
"I don't remember Pepe having a shot to save. Okay, we won the game with a penalty but we had other chances."
Liverpool will take on a rejuvenated Tottenham Hotspur this weekend as they seek to cement their spot at the summit of the Premier League standings.
Benitez added: "We will try to be at the top of the table for a long time but our idea as always is to think about one game at a time and the next three points."
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