Rafa sets sights on title after historic Reds win
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Rafa Benitez believes Liverpool’s win over Chelsea sends out a ‘massive message’ to the rest of The Premier League.
Xabi Alonso’s deflected first-half strike was enough for The Reds to end Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten home streak with a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool are now three points clear of their title rivals at the top of The Premier League and Benitez was full of praise for The Reds’ winning mentality.
"Everybody was talking about statistics and our record against the top sides and we knew they were unbeaten at home for a long time, so it was a massive game for us," Benitez told the official club website.
"We have the right mentality that you need for fighting against the top sides and to win and stay at the top of the table and remain unbeaten is a massive message.
"To come here with the mentality and the character the players showed today for winning was a big boost for the rest of the season. We have belief, quality and character.
"It's enough for being at the top of the table and we will now start thinking about Portsmouth and another three points.
"We have showed good qualities today that we can come to Chelsea and win the game. Against a very offensive team I felt we controlled the game.
"We had other chances and we didn't just sit back and defend the 1-0 lead. We kept the attacking mentality and tried to get the second goal.
"The team worked so hard and the players knew what to do. We had more space going forward in the second half because they were pushing more players forward.
"We defended really well and they didn't have too many opportunities.
"Credit to my players who were really good. The key for me is if you have players with quality who work hard then you know you will have a winning team.
"Our supporters were behind us as always and for them, for us and everyone in the club it was a fantastic day."
Liverpool now face Portsmouth on Wednesday, where they are likely to come up against former striker Peter Crouch, and Benitez is determined they maintain their focus.
"Clearly I think we have to come down from this win and start thinking about Portsmouth," he added.
"It was important to beat Manchester United and now we have beaten Chelsea, but clearly if you want to stay at the top of the table for a long time you have to beat almost everyone."
Liverpool were without star striker Fernando Torres for the trip to Stamford Bridge, as they were for their home win over Manchester United.
Benitez hailed Liverpool’s strength of depth and their ability to win without one of their best players.
"Everybody was talking about how it would be difficult for us to come to Chelsea without Torres," added Benitez. "Fernando is a key player for us who can change a game and is always a threat for the defenders.
"But, if you work well as a team together you can manage like we showed today. If we have to play one or two more games without Fernando I think we have enough quality in the squad.
"We have confidence and we just have to keep it going. Every year we are trying to improve the squad. We have made mistakes signing players but we have also made some very good ones. When I talk about players I don't just mean quality because they need a very good mentality.
"Players like Agger, Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard, Carragher, Reina, you can see the mentality they have and it inspires the rest of the players too.
"We have a good squad with good competition. Diego Cavalieri hasn't played much but he is pushing Pepe Reina, Dossena is pushing Fabio Aurelio which is really positive for us so the new players have a very good mentality. Lucas Leiva is working so hard in every training session and everybody has to be on their toes."
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it's time to keep winning and maintaining form.