Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1:TOTTENHAM Hotspur cannot win like a normal team. It seems that they first have to wring every last drop of drama and emotion out of proceedings, but there is little doubt that it makes their successes taste all the sweeter.

As has become their wont, Harry Redknapp’s team gave Liverpool a goal start. It was not without merit as the visitors had enjoyed much the better of the first half and they ought to have made the scoreline 2-0 which may or, more likely in the current north London climate, may not have proved decisive. Maxi Rodriguez and Fernando Torres were the Liverpool culprits in front of goal.

Tottenham left it until they had missed yet another penalty before they fought back. After substitute Jermain Defoe had dragged his contentiously awarded kick wide, Luka Modric breathed life into his team with a driving run past a posse of red shirts and the cross was turned into his goal by Martin Skrtel, which meant the Liverpool defender had scored at both ends.

A breathless finale took in Liverpool anguish. They felt they should have had a penalty for Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s full-blooded lunge at Dirk Kuyt, and they also lost David Ngog and captain Jamie Carragher to injuries.

Then came the final agony. After Defoe had put the ball in the net, only to be correctly pulled back for offside, Aaron Lennon raced on to Peter Croch’s flick and away from Paul Konchesky to shoot low past Pepe Reina.

Redknapp’s team has now taken 16 points from losing positions this season. For Liverpool, there was only disbelief and a familiar sinking feeling away from home.

The game had started slowly, with little hint of what was to come. In the biting cold, Tottenham also lost two players to injury, which seemed to symbolise the stuttering nature of their first-half performance. First, one of their creative inspirations, Rafael van der Vaart, departed in the ninth minute, having felt his hamstring go – he had been rated 50-50 to play in the first place – and then Younes Kaboul followed him down the tunnel with barely half an hour played.

Redknapp had brought in Wilson Palacios to replace the injured Jermaine Jenas but, for all his admirable qualities, he is no ball player. The crowd cheered half good-naturedly, half ironically when he completed a short pass in the opening exchanges.

Tottenham’s best first-half moment came when Reina, who was uncharacteristically sloppy, spilled a Modric cross at Defoe’s feet but, with the goalkeeper out of position, Carragher blocked Defoe’s shot heroically.

Liverpool had advertised their threat by then, with Maxi getting into some dangerous positions – he forced Heurelho Gomes into one smart save – and Raul Meireles also went close from long-range.

Tottenham are always liable to concede, and the opening goal came when Meireles chipped in a free-kick and Skrtel challenged aggressively. The ball broke kindly off Ngog and the defender quickly poked a low shot home.

Liverpool had glorious chances for 2-0 as Tottenham’s defensive vulnerabilities were highlighted. Torres’ beautiful flick sent Maxi clean through but, when he attempted to round Gomes, he found the goalkeeper had read his intentions. Flummoxed at the vital moment, Maxi’s nerve deserted him.

Torres also went clean through on two occasions and on the second, straight after half-time, he looked a decent bet to put Liverpool in complete charge. His touch, however, carried him wide and Sebastien Bassong got back to knock him from his stride.

Tottenham battled back. After another flap from Reina, Gareth Bale drove goalwards and he was only denied by Meireles’s headed clearance.

Then came the first penalty controversy. Only Ngog knows why, from his position in the defensive wall, he chose to jump to block Bale’s free-kick with his hands raised above his head.

Liverpool need not have worried. Tottenham have turned missing penalties into an art form and Defoe became the fourth player to miss this season when he dragged his kick past the post. Redknapp had stripped Defoe of penalty-taking duties last season.

Yet the disappointment was merely the precursor to eventual Tottenham delight.

Guardian Service