Two goals in space of thirteen second half minutes against Sunderland saw Liverpool snatch a hard fought victory to halt their recent slump in form on Tuesday.

The Reds had dropped 5 points in their last two matches to drop to third in the Premier League table and fans were hoping for an improvement in form even though the hosts were missing Fernando Torres from the starting lineup.

However it was Sunderland who almost broke the deadlock early in the game when Kenwyne Jones raced past Martin Skrtel with an excellent first touch but was unable to hit the back of the net with just Pepe Reina to beat.

The chance seemed to have lifted Liverpool who began controlling the game but were struggling to create any real chances. Liverpool's first real chance fell to Albert Riera who saw his deflected shot saved brilliantly by Martin Fulop.

Liverpool finally managed to break the deadlock seven minutes into the second half when Steven Gerrard flicked on Riera's cross on to the path of David Ngog and the French striker made no mistake from close range to score his first league goal for Liverpool.

As Sunderland pressed forward in search of an equalizer, Liverpool hit them on the counter attack 13 minutes later with Ngog turning creator when his cross was converted from close range by Yossi Benayoun to give his side come cushion late in the second half.