"Clearly after the defeat of the other day it was very important to get three points and try to play a good game," said Benitez.
"It was difficult in the first half - they had a very good chance to go in front but after that we were keeping the ball and the game became more open after we scored the goal in the second half.
"We needed to win because we knew that we were in a very good position before the Middlesbrough game. We were very disappointed after that defeat so we had to show a lot of character to win against Sunderland.
"I think that David Ngog did a very good job, he had a good game. Yossi Benayoun also played well and Pepe Reina was also very important for us when he saved early on in the game.
"But the whole team was always trying to pass the ball, we were very well organised. They were very good on the counter attack so we had to keep calm - we created a lot of chances.
"The reaction of the players was very good."
