Match Report : Liverpool 3 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Match Report : Liverpool 3 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Europe slips through Spurs' fingers

Updated: May 24, 2009, 6:22 PM UK

31' Torres 1-0
64' Hutton (Own Goal )2-0
77' Keane 2-1
81' Benayoun 3-1

Liverpool claimed runners-up spot in the Premier League as they won 1-0 to deny Tottenham European football after a season that produced an unbeaten home league record for the first time in 21 years.

GettyImages
Heurelho Gomes is beaten by a header from Torres

Their unbeaten home stretch was extended to 30 games as Sami Hyypia bid a tearful farewell to Anfield after 10 years at the club.

• Benitez determined to keep Alonso

The ovations were for the veteran Finn and a Liverpool side who had pushed Manchester United all the way in the title race.

The goals came from Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and an own goal from Alan Hutton, with Robbie Keane scoring for Spurs on his return to Anfield.

Spurs, even though Fulham lost at home, could not take advantage and will not be in the Europa League next season.

Boss Rafael Benitez left out two defenders who had played in the win at West Brom last week but veteran Hyypia was not in the starting line-up.

A packed Anfield, who sung the Finn's name at every opportunity, would no doubt have liked to see the 35 year-old on from the start before he leaves to join Bayer Leverkusen but it was not to be that romantic a day.

Out went Alvaro Arbeloa, Lucas Leiva and Emiliano Insua, with Fabio Aurelio, Xabi Alonso and Martin Skrtel back in the starting XI.

Spurs were without defender Jonathan Woodgate (groin) and Tom Huddlestone (knee), while Roman Pavlyuchenko was back on the bench. Alan Hutton, Gareth Bale and Didier Zokora returned.

Hyypia's name echoed around the stadium beforehand and there was a new, giant flag in his honour on the Kop.

But, ever the perfectionist, Benitez used both Daniel Agger and Skrtel in central defence with Jamie Carragher at right-back, as Liverpool tried to pin down the one point needed to be certain of runners-up spot.

They started at great pace, with Steven Gerrard firing over with a hooked shot from 25 yards, while Benayoun fired over from close in after Dirk Kuyt's header down.

Spurs were organised and controlled. Ledley King at the back even out-paced Torres on one run, while Jermain Defoe searched for the gaps at the other end.

Torres sparked into life when he surged through from midfield, got himself clear in the box but saw his attempt to steer a shot wide of Heurelho Gomes thwarted by a defiant challenge by Jermaine Jenas.

But he did not have to wait long for the breakthrough. Kuyt's cross from the left sailed towards the far post where Hutton was patently the wrong side of Torres.

The Spaniard rose to head in off the underside of the bar - his 50th goal for the club - with Gomes not even getting off the ground.

Spurs then lost Jenas - David Bentley coming on as a 39th-minute substitute - with the midfielder still suffering from the injury he had sustained in stopping Torres earlier.

Defoe then beat the offside trap to race clear but Jose Reina managed to block the chipped shot with his body, just outside the area.

King was felled by a fierce Skrtel drive in the box and Alonso tried to beat Gomes from the half-way line - a trick shot he has succeeded with in the past but not this time.

Spurs responded with a curling Bale free-kick that was pulled down by Reina. Then another Skrtel drive following a corner deflected inches wide.

But Liverpool finally got their second when Benayoun's cute pass set up Kuyt for a shot from just inside the box. It looked to be going just wide but Hutton's outstretched foot turned the effort past Gomes.

The calls for Hyypia's involvement increased from the Kop but it was Albert Riera who was the first Liverpool substitute, in place of Kuyt after 66 minutes.

Gerrard then hit the far post from an acute angle. Hyypia at last came off the bench for a warm-up.

There is still plenty of speculation about Alonso's future but he had been outstanding throughout and forced Gomes into a flying save to his left.

Pavlyuchenko then replaced Defoe after 70 minutes for Spurs but Liverpool were in full flow now and Gerrard was next to go close with a curler from the edge of the box.

The Kop were now baying for Hyypia but, after 77 minutes, Robbie Keane - on his return to Anfield - was put clear by Luka Modric to calmly slot in only his fifth goal for Spurs since returning to White Hart Lane from Anfield in January.

Spurs then brought on another striker, Darren Bent, for Bale while Liverpool replaced Torres with David Ngog.

But Liverpool's worries were ended when Gerrard slipped the ball to Benayoun, who eased his way into the box to clip the third past Gomes.

The "we want Sami'' barrage was booming again. Surely Benitez could risk it now. Vedran Corluka was booked for a foul on Gerrard and at last Hyypia was allowed to take off his training top for one last cameo appearance.

There was seven minutes to go, Gerrard was the man taken off and he made sure he put his captain's armband onto the giant defender as he came off.

Hyypia almost scored with a typical flying header from Aurelio's corner and at the end he was carried off by his team-mates at the end of a career that makes him a Liverpool legend.

# Benitez determined to keep Alonso

After the match Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted he did not intend to sell midfielder Xabi Alonso this summer.

Benitez was quizzed on the possibility of Alonso leaving and Carlos Tevez arriving this summer, but would only say: "Clearly I cannot give any names (of players leaving or arriving).

"Alonso has three years left on his contract and we are really pleased with him, so we do not want to sell.

"But I have had a private conversation with his agent, and it was interesting to see who had that information.

"For me it was a private conversation, and it will stay that way, but it is clear he has three more years of his contract and we do not want to sell him.

"I repeat, we do not want to sell, he is not for sale. He has said he is happy here in Liverpool, in every single press conference, in every single interview.

"We have some ideas for the future, without losing any of our key players."

Liverpool had earlier secured the runners-up spot with 86 points, their Premier League record haul, and finished four points behind champions Manchester United.

The victory over Tottenham was a fifth successive win and completed a run of 11 matches without defeat, dropping just two points.

The eventual ease of Liverpool's win allowed Benitez to give veteran defender Sami Hyypia the final minutes on the pitch to say farewell to the club's fans after 10 years at Anfield.

He will now join Bayer Leverkusen, and Benitez said: "I was waiting for the last minute to bring him on, but the fans wanted him earlier so I gave in.

"In the end it was almost perfect because he almost scored.

"We are losing a fantastic professional, a very good player and a very good person.

"But it had all been planned, Steven Gerrard was always going to come off and give him the armband at the end."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp saw his club's chance of European football ended, despite seven-placed Fulham's home defeat by Everton.

A win would have seen Tottenham leapfrog their London rivals to claim a Europa League spot.

Redknapp said: "We were short of several players, and lost Jonathan Woodgate the day before the match.

"We tried our hardest, European football would have been a real achievement considering the position Spurs were in when I arrived at the club.

"We almost did it in the end. But to have climbed from bottom to eighth is something to be proud of.

"We were just not able to hurt Liverpool. Some of our defending was poor, the goals we gave away could have been averted."