Darren Bent says Sunderland deserved to beat Liverpool at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, despite the controversy of his goal.

Bent does not care how long the ball ends up in the back of the net, as long as it keeps doing just that.

The #10-million Sunderland striker took his tally for the club since his summer move from Tottenham to eight with arguably the most unusual goal he has ever scored.

Bent, who saw Wolves defender Michael Mancienne deflect home his shot last month to rob him of a double in the game, fired Liverpool down with the help of a significant touch from a beach ball that had been thrown on to the pitch by one of the travelling fans behind Pepe Reina's goal.

However, like any top-class marksman, he will not lose any sleep over how the ball ultimately found its destination.

He said: "Little things are going in my favour - hitting one off the top of a balloon and it goes in the corner - but I will take it.

"As a frontman, you will always take what you are given and Saturday was no exception.

"But at the same time, the team played fantastically and to be fair from a neutral point of view, no-one would say it was unjustified."

Reds boss Rafael Benitez refused to dwell on the beach ball incident, but may wonder why one of his players did not take the opportunity to get rid of it before it could do any damage.

Bent said: "The ball was sitting in the middle of their own six-yard box and if they are not going to move it, then there's nothing we can do about it at the end of the day."

The goal was the main talking point in an incident-packed game which saw Liverpool's title credentials take a further dent - they have now lost four of their nine Premier League games this season - and Sunderland further enhance their blossoming reputation.

Indeed, Bent might have claimed a hat-trick on a day when Liverpool's makeshift defence - Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel played in a back three - simply could not contain he and strike-partner Kenwyne Jones.

He glanced a first-half header wide and was denied first by Pepe Reina and then a post after the break as the Black Cats threatened to claim their first win over one of the big four clubs since their return to the Premier League even more comfortably.

The only negative for manager Steve Bruce was that Jones and midfielder Lee Cattermole both left the field on stretchers, the Trinidad and Tobago international heading straight to hospital with an ankle injury and the England Under-21 midfielder having damaged a knee.

The two managers clashed angrily on the sideline as Jones was treated at length on the pitch, with Benitez drawing the attention of fourth official Neil Swarbrick to his watch and his opposite number suggesting that was less than sporting.

Bruce later admitted he had made a "prat" of himself, but put it down to his concern over losing two of his most influential players, just as Benitez had done before kick-off when he was forced to do without the injured Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

The Sunderland boss said: "That was the big downside for me on the day, which had been a great day for the club. I was thinking about those two and how bad they are because Jones and Cattermole are our Torres and Gerrard."

Bruce will now look forward to next weekend's trip to former club Birmingham having seen his side climb above Liverpool into seventh place on Saturday evening and with belief on Wearside growing.

By contrast, Liverpool head into Tuesday night's Champions League clash with Lyon and Sunday's visit of champions Manchester United to Anfield knowing their season could already be reaching crunch point.

Benitez said: "I don't talk about the title. We have an important game on Tuesday, an important game on Sunday and that is the priority, not to talk about the table."

Whether or not Gerrard and Torres will be back to bolster their ailing challenge remains to be seen.

The Spaniard said: "They are both improving but still, it's too soon, so we will see with the physios.

"We have three days and we will see how they progress. They are improving, but it is difficult to say if they will be available.

"We think they can be, but still it is too soon."