Oh my Ngog! Liverpool may not be in a worse position than they were last season.

Before this season, if Fernando Torres was injured, the Reds could always turn to Peter Crouch to play up front. But Crouch left for Portsmouth, so Liverpool brought in exuberant striker Robbie Keane to enhance their title credentials, and we all know what happened next.

The premature departure of Keane back to Tottenham Hotspur in January was baffling to say the least, and Liverpool was in danger of finishing worse than their fourth-place finish last term.

But with David Ngog's first Premier League goal, it appears that Rafael Benitez is not barmy after all, and that sending Keane to Tottenahm Hotspur will not irrevocably damage the club.

Before the Sunderland game, Ngog looked nothing more than a hopeless Ryan Babel, and Babel is quite hopeless. However, his starting berth gave the young striker a fantastic showcase to show his worth and he duly delivered.

He was majestic and played light years ahead of his own age to supply Liverpool with a real option up front.

He conjured up some superb flicks and brought many of the midfielders into play. Even Javier Mascherano looked like an attacking threat from his unfavoured right back position, as he was able to make use of Ngog’s ability to create space to blast a few shots wide (What else did you expect?).

Ngog’s side-footed goal lifted a great deal of expectation and fear of dropping out of the title race off Liverpool’s batted shoulders. More importantly, it gave breathing room between them and party smashers Aston Villa to make sure they secure those desperate Champions League places.

Ngog has always been prolific in youth football and has taken the first steps of becoming a real star on Merseyside.

Keane’s departure may look less ridiculous now. Benitez may know what he is doing? I still doubt that very much.

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