Philippe Coutinho delivered a superb performance as Liverpool mounted a comeback to beat Tottenham 3-2 thanks to a late Steven Gerrard penalty at Anfield.
Two goals from Jan Vertonghen either side of half-time looked to have overturned an early Luis Suárez strike but Stewart Downing and Gerrard took advantage of defensive calamities to give Liverpool the win.
The Brazilian gave an assured performance on the left side of the Reds midfield as he proved to be a thorn in the Spurs side. Lucas Leiva also delivered a typically hard-working shift in the core of Liverpool’s midfield.
Liverpool began the better of the two sides and it wasn’t long before Coutinho and Jose Enrique combined to great effect to present Suárez with a simple chance from six yards which the Urguguyan gleefully toepoked home for his 29th of the season.
But Gareth Bale soon sprung into action and the Welshman curled in a cross from deep which Vertonghen nodded in at the far post.
Vertonghen doubled his tally for the afternoon as the Belgian took advantage of some shoody defending to lash past Brad Jones in goal.
Spurs nearly put the game to bed after a superb solo run by Bale saw him take on three defenders and find Gylfi Sigurdsson in the box but the Icelander could only hit the post via a deflection.
Coutinho was subbed on the hour mark as Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers introduced Joe Allen to the play and the Welshman helped launch a comeback.
But Liverpool’s equalising goal proved to have nothing to do with their attacking ability as Kyle Walker and Hugo Lloris contributed to their downfall with successive defensive mistakes.
Walker’s attempted backpass nearly found Downing but the French goalkeeper stormed out of his goal only to miskick his clearance and gift the Liverpool winger an easy finish for the equaliser.
Suárez then had the last say on the much hyped Suárez vs Bale matchup as the Uruguayan was pulled down in the penalty area and Gerrard stepped up to give Liverpool a huge win.
