Gerrard fires new life into Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Liverpool 3

A win, and a comeback, that puts Liverpool within spitting distance of a Champions' League place. El-Hadji Diouf had a peripheral part in two of the goals, but it was a storming performance by Steven Gerrard, capped by a goal of breathtaking execution, which provided the inspiration.

With their Merseyside neighbours Everton dropping points on Saturday, Liverpool know their destiny can still be theirs with visits to both Goodison Park and Chelsea's Stamford Bridge – the last of the season – on the horizon.

Fate had appeared to conspire against them after another extraordinary error by Jerzy Dudek as he spilled Mauricio Taricco's speculative right-foot shot from 25 yards. The goalkeeper turned in horror to see the ball creep over the line.

The pitch had been watered at half-time, after a sluggish first 45 minutes but, even if it was greasy, there was little power in the shot and little excuse for the mistake. Dudek later admitted he simply lost the flight of the ball.

The goal added injury to insult with Taricco apparently guilty of attempting to provoke Diouf, the villain of the piece at Celtic Park, throughout the first-half. He persistently tapped him on the back of the head in a similar style to what happened when the Senegalese player ended up in the crowd on Thursday. The Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier, was so angered he strode into the Tottenham technical area to berate Glenn Hoddle's assistant John Gorman.

"I got just a bit angry because in the first half Taricco, whether he did it on purpose or not, he looked like he wanted to try and have him sent off," Houllier said. "I do not think it was a nice thing between fellow footballers. I have never had a player who tried to get someone sent off."

Hoddle was equally annoyed with Houllier, saying his claims were "absolute rubbish", before adding, "For him to [verbally] attack our player in the tunnel is just not on. I bet he did not mention that, did he? If he thinks he [Taricco] tried to provoke the situation that is just not on." A spat and not a spit, then.

Taricco's goal also stirred a reaction – this time on the field. "Maybe Jerzy's mistake woke us up," Houllier said. "It looked like the team wanted to respond and help him out."

The Liverpool manager – celebrating his first win in this corner of North London – said that his players had also showed a similar strength of character to rally round Diouf. "You could see them show a lot of solidarity," he said.

Indeed they drew level within four minutes to dampen down any hopes Tottenham had of rekindling their own European aspirations.

Hoddle did hand a debut as a late substitute to the highly promising teenage striker Jamie Slabber – and it was from his knock-down that Teddy Sheringham scored to reduce arrears – but Liverpool, despite wobbling a little, were just about worth their win.

Houllier's side now appear to have used their warranted victory in the Worthington Cup as impetus for the run-in, after two league victories and Thursday's draw in Glasgow. The Frenchman was clearly delighted. "We are on our journey," he said with eight Premiership games to go.

His side had "rode their luck" in the first-half although both teams were somewhat disjointed. The best moments were, again, provided by Simon Davies and, with Gus Poyet back, Tottenham at least appeared to have more of a threat.

Three times – from Davies, Sheringham and Matthew Etherington – the home side fashioned inviting low crosses which deserved a finishing touch. Twice Tottenham failed to provide sufficient personnel while Poyet spoiled a third chance wide with his team-mate Gary Doherty inadvertently impeding him. "We were inches off two or three goals," Hoddle said, adding that his side – despite what he claimed was a performance good enough to have won the game – paid for "individual errors".

Tellingly, it was from a similar move to the ones spurned by Spurs that Michael Owen equalised. Sheringham was caught dwelling in possession on the edge of his own penalty area and the ball transferred to Gerrard whose low ball was swept in.

Suddenly Liverpool were energised. Gerrard – who had shot wide in the first half after an impressive 50 yard run to link play with Danny Murphy – burst into the area and chipped an instinctive cross to the back post. Emile Heskey arrived to put his side ahead with his second goal in a week. There seemed to be some justification to Hoddle's protests that he was offside, however.

Then, with Tottenham pressing, Murphy's long ball was collected in his stride by Gerrard whose momentum took him past Ben Thatcher on half-way. The England midfielder ran on, steadied himself and calmly shot low past Kasey Keller to condemn Tottenham to only their third home defeat in 15 games.

Thatcher, incidentally, had been recalled in place of the suspended Dean Richards, one of eight first-team players unavailable to Hoddle. The former Wimbledon defender has become the latest to be unsettled at White Hart Lane, raising further murmurings over the former England's manager's handling of his squad. Hoddle offered a little insight when he said, during the week, that he did not have a communication problem – having spoken to Thatcher "a couple of months ago". Not quite an open door policy there, then.

Afterwards Hoddle's attention was firmly on the league table, saying his team desperately needed "momentum". "We have got to put a run together and stop conceding," he claimed, mindful that when the two sides met in October they were both in the top three. "But performances like that give us heart." It is Liverpool, however, who are looking in rude health right now.

Goals: 1-0 (Taricco, 47); 1-1 (Owen, 50); 1-2 (Heskey, 71); 1-3 (Gerrard, 81); 2-3 (Sheringham, 86).

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Keller 4; Carr 5, Thatcher 4, King 5, Taricco 4 (Freund 66, 3); Davies 7, Poyet 6, Bunjevcevic 4, Etherington 4; Sheringham 4, Doherty 3 (Slabber 78). Substitutes not used: Sullivan (gk), Acimovic, Toda.

Liverpool (4-4-2): Dudek 3; Carragher 4, Hyypia 5, Traore 5, Riise 5; Murphy 7, Gerrard 9, Hamann 7 (Diao 87), Diouf 7; Heskey 7, Owen 7. Substitutes not used: Arphexad (gk), Baros, Smicer, Biscan.

Bookings: Tottenham Poyet, Liverpool Hamann.

Referee: U Rennie 5 (Sheffield).

Man of the match: S Gerrard (Liverpool).

Attendance: 36,077.