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| NEWS STORY |
RAFA: MONKEY IS OFF KEANE'S BACK
Jimmy Rice at Anfield
08 November 2008
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Rafa Benitez believes Robbie Keane 'got a monkey off his back' by finally scoring his first league goals for Liverpool in the 3-0 victory over West Brom.
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The Irishman - who hadn't scored a domestic goal since arriving from Spurs in July - hit a brace to lift the Reds back to the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Benitez said: "I wanted to support Keane because he was playing well and working hard for the team. Goals are important for strikers so now he'll be happier and everyone will be talking about how good he is.
"I think he said he had a monkey off his back, so now he'll hopefully continue scoring goals and playing well.
"He has game intelligence and is always a threat to defenders around the box."
Asked why he substituted Keane with 20 minutes to go when a hat-trick was on the cards, Benitez replied: "I wanted to win and I knew we needed the pace of Fernando up front. I wanted to control the game and score the third goal."
The cameo appearance was Torres' first since Man City away on October 5.
"Fernando does not have his match fitness yet but he has pace and he's always a threat to defenders," added the boss.
Victory was a welcome tonic after last weekend's 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.
"We know everyone was talking about us having to show character after Tottenham," said Benitez.
"We didn't deserve to lose last week. We played well and we played well again today, scoring three goals - and it could have been even better.
"We are at the top of the table and will try to be there for a long time. But we have to take one game at a time and keep trying to get three points."
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