Brendan Rodgers has been waiting eight months for such a noteworthy scalp.
Liverpool's barren spell against the top four ended with a victory that seemed as implausible as it was thrilling after Jan Vertonghen had given Tottenham a second-half lead.
It was an emotionally exhausting fixture at Anfield. Two sides with a capacity to perplex as well as enthral displayed their strengths and also the weaknesses which explain why both have collected fewer points than their performances deserved.
The pre-match billing pointing to a duel between Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale was justified.
True, both once again provoked anger as much as awe with their contributions. They infuriate opposition defenders by tripping at any hint of contact and Suarez found himself in a heated altercation with several Spurs players and back-room staff at full-time, his mere presence on the pitch seeming to annoy them.
However, if they were complaining about the legality of the winning penalty, given when Benoit Assou-Ekotto bundled Suarez over in the 82nd minute, even Andre Villas-Boas acknowledged referee Michael Oliver made the correct call.
Bale had earlier displayed a remarkable ability to recover from prolonged treatment to create Spurs' equaliser, but to linger on that is to downplay the majesty of his delivery from the flank.
The enduring impression was Suarez and Bale's ability to influence every second, terrifying every defender and opposition supporter as they prowled and pounced.
Suarez struck first on 21 minutes, completing the kind of one-touch move that is recurring at Liverpool with thrilling regularity under Rodgers.
Philippe Coutinho, who eclipsed everyone for the first 25 minutes, demonstrated his tight control and ability to thread a pass when he found the advancing Jose Enrique. The Spaniard slipped it through to Suárez. With the outside of his right foot, he nudged beyond Hugo Lloris.
Momentarily, Liverpool looked ready to go on the rampage, but Spurs, even in defeat, were the most impressive visitors to Anfield this season.
Vertonghen will wonder how he was part of a defence that conceded three. The centre-half was imperious at both ends, heading Tottenham level from Bale's cross in first-half stoppage time.
The Welshman's influence grew as the game progressed, Liverpool often deploying three defenders in a vain effort to control him.
His second assist came from a lofted free-kick eight minutes into the second half. Although Rodgers was generous in his praise for goalkeeper Brad Jones, there was uncertainty in Liverpool's defence as soon as it was announced that Pepe Reina had failed a fitness test on a calf injury. That was reflected in the anxious effort to clear Bale's free-kick, allowing Vertonghen to benefit for his second.
That should have been decisive for Villas-Boas, particularly when Liverpool temporarily lost their cohesion and composure. But the woodwork denied Gylfi Sigurdsson a third - "the key moment of the game" according to Villas-Boas - before Kyle Walker inadvertently kept Liverpool's flickering Champions League hopes aflame in the 67th minute.
The full-back directed an airbound whack to the edge of his own box, Stewart Downing ambushed Lloris and the momentum shift was such that panic spread in the Tottenham ranks.
In the frantic last 10 minutes, Jermain Defoe volleyed to Suárez in the penalty box and Assou-Ekotto shoved the Uruguayan, giving Oliver no option.
Steven Gerrard, who had missed from the spot at the same point of the match against West Bromwich Albion recently, kept his composure to secure the points, his victory lap towards goalkeeper coach John Achterberg suggesting video analysis had helped him to predict the French No 1's movements.
Rodgers knows this victory ensured his side retained a slight chance of catching Spurs and Chelsea.
"It's another marker for us," he said. "People talked about how we haven't beaten anyone in the top 10, then it was the top eight and then the top six and top four."
Villas-Boas must be sick of Merseyside, having lost in similar circumstances to Everton in December. He can be consoled by the fact that this defeat did nothing to dispel the notion this Spurs team belong in the Champions League. For Liverpool, that is still a long way off, but their stride is quickening.
Source: The Telegraph
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