Football

Fernando Torres spurs Liverpool to victory

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posted on 15 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Liverpool concluded the season with a comfortable win.

New Delhi: The home side concluded the season with a comfortable win in front of their own fans at Anfield.

Liverpool produced an impressive performance to win on the last day of a season that saw them come so close to winning their first league title for 19 years as they beat Tottenham Hotspur.

Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun all scored for the hosts while Robbie Keane returned to the club where he spent six months to net for Harry Redknapp's visitors.

It remains to be seen if Spurs will make it into Europe, but the Reds are guaranteed a place in the Champions League group stages as they finished as runners-up.

With a goal difference of plus-50 and having tasted defeat only twice this season, things could have been so different for Liverpool this term had they managed more display at home like the one they managed against Tottenham.

With so many draws this term, Rafa Benitez may not take much comfort from the fact that he has led his side to their highest ever finish in the modern-day Premier League.

After a cagey start, Liverpool began to push forward and look to expose a Tottenham side that Redknapp has stated needs three more players to look to push into the top four.

Half an hour of looking to sit back and keep the Reds out proved fruitless as a minute after that mark, Torres met a Kuyt cross to head home via the underside of the crossbar.

Steven Gerrard looked keen to finish the season with a good display and Xabi Alonso continued move the ball about in the middle to help convince any would-be suitors to up their interest in him during the summer.

While the game was open and attacking, Liverpool were unable to increase their advantage until after the hour-mark as the hapless Alan Hutton turned a Kut cross into his own net, but Kuyt's cross saw him credited with the goal.

There was time for Keane to show Benitez that he may have rushed into letting him go as he controlled a long ball forward and then netted before refusing to celebrate against the Merseyside outfit.

The game was over as a contest with nine minutes to go as he raced toward Heurelho Gomes before clipping the ball in to give Liverpool a win that their performance on the day deserved.

Tottenham finished eighth, which only a few weeks ago looked unbelievable as they struggled to pull themselves away from being involved in a relegation dogfight.

If Redknapp does believe his team are close to greatness, then he only needed to look at the opposition here to see just how far he has to go to make up ground.