Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez insists defeat to Sunderland has not ended their championship tilt. On another day, matchwinner Darren Bent might have claimed at least a hat-trick after repeatedly finding space and time inside the box, and it was mainly thanks to Pepe Reina and the woodwork that he did not.

By contrast, Liverpool, without the injured Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, offered little as an attacking force until deep into seven minutes of added time when Craig Gordon had to make an excellent double save from Dirk Kuyt and substitute David Ngog.

Bruce said: "I thought we deserved it, I hope that's not just going to be the headline [the goal].

"In the second half, we had three one-on-ones - Darren went round the goalkeeper twice, he hit the post and Reina got back and made a great save, Steed (Malbranque) had a wonderful chance and I was just thinking, 'We need to take the second one'.

"But my goalkeeper only had one save to make - it was a good one - and overall, I thought we thoroughly deserved the victory."

It was Sunderland's first victory over one of the 'big four' since their return to the Premier League, and condemned the title hopefuls to a damaging fourth league defeat in nine games.

Benitez said: "In a normal season, the teams at the top of the table will be winning every single game and that is a big difference. In this case, Chelsea have lost two games and I see a lot of teams at the top of the table losing games.

"It's bad, but crucial? It depends on the next games."