Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted with the way his side performed in their 1-0 win at Sunderland on Saturday.
The Reds extended their unbeaten run to five matches courtesy of Lazar Markovic's ninth-minute strike but they made hard work of seeing off the Black Cats who were reduced to ten men early in the second half.
Liverpool had a number of chances to add to Markovic's early opener but were unable to do so before Gus Poyet's side rallied, strangely enough, after Liam Bridcutt had been sent off for a second bookable offence.
In the wake of the hardworking victory, which saw Liverpool remain eighth on the table, Rodgers felt his side put in a good shift to record maximum points on the road for the fifth time this term.
"I thought we were outstanding in the first half and had real control of the game. We hit the crossbar and should have had a penalty and had one or two other chances," said Rodgers.
"We started the second half well but the sending-off threw us a little bit for 10 minutes. As long as it's only 1-0, you're always tentative but defensively I thought we were excellent under pressure."
