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.”
He added: “We know everyone was talking about us having to show character after Tottenham.
“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.”
