Daylight robbery

Hip, hip, Harry hooray! Finally we have discovered what was wrong with Tottenham. It was not the cash-conscious chairman, his over-confident sporting director, or the too young, too inexperienced squads they put together. It was the absence of an arm-round-the-shoulder-and-tell-it-like-it-is manager. If only Spurs had snared Harry Redknapp a couple of years back - they would be in the Champions League by now.

Amazing the difference a few results make. A win over Bolton last Sunday; thrilling - if fundamentally messy - recovery against Arsenal; three points extracted from the erstwhile League leaders. Suddenly all is well in the wonderful world of White Hart Lane and we can sit back and admire as Tottenham shoot up the table.

Perhaps the greatest commodity Redknapp has brought to White Hart Lane is good fortune. His team should not just have been beaten here, they should have been destroyed. Ahead through a third-minute Dirk Kuyt goal, Liverpool spurned enough chances to win a month's worth of matches then removed themselves from the top of the Premier League table with a Jamie Carragher own goal - his third for Tottenham.

As the fourth official signalled added time, Spurs found a winner, Roman Pavlyuchenko converting after Darren Bent turned a Pepe Reina save back to him. For the second time in four days Redknapp jumped up in disbelief. It was not grand larceny, but it was fairly close.

'We rode our luck a bit,' Redknapp said, 'I've just got in amongst them, talked to them, encouraged them। I've always said that life is about confidence. I'm going to play golf in the morning - if I get on that 1st tee and hit a crap shot chances are I'll have a bad round. If I hit a good one...'

Did Redknapp deserve credit for the turnaround? 'Could be,' said Rafa Benítez, his undefeated start to the season at an end. 'But if you analyse the last two games sometimes you need luck. I think it was a game that easily could have been 0-4 at 60 minutes.'

They are not great fans of corporate responsibility in the Tottenham boardroom; much happier with naked revisionism. From Saturday's sacking of Juande Ramos to Wednesday's glee at the 4-4 draw with Arsenal, 'the ultimate failure of our dealings in this summer's transfer window' that Daniel Levy described in an open letter to the supporters had transformed into the chairman questioning whether 'recruitment [had] been a problem. You've seen in the last two games how things have changed'.

Meanwhile, the new manager took a scalpel to his line up - Ledley King's knee deemed strong enough to change the centre-back pairing for an 11th time in 15 games, while allowing Alan Hutton to be culled at right-back. Bent and Jamie O'Hara started, but Jermaine Jenas was lost to injury in the warm-up. The formation remained cautious, Luka Modric flitting between his striker and four more midfielders.

Returning to rotating ways, Benítez made five changes to return to the team that won so impressively at Stamford Bridge six days previously. They took the lead even more rapidly than on their last visit to London. An Alvaro Arbeloa throw-in was gathered by Robbie Keane, who shuffled around King then touched it back to Kuyt. At an angle from which most would cross, the Dutchman went for the net, leathering in his fifth goal in seven matches past Heurelho Gomes. By the fifth minute the lead almost doubled as Steven Gerrard propelled free- and corner-kicks at the six-yard box. The first was unconvincingly punched away by Gomes, while Bent watched the second ricochet from his legs off the near post.

Where Liverpool were sharp and precise, Spurs were dull and ragged. With precious little to excite them the Lane grew irritated at any attempts to retain possession in their own half. Liverpool were more accomplished at such devices anyway, teasing up the frustration levels between creating further scoring opportunities. Gerrard skewed one effort wide; the half-heartedly booed Keane saw another charged down. When Modric finally found the target, Reina reacted well.

"Tell him to just f**king run about,'" he said.

At half-time Redknapp attempted a tactical overhaul, exchanging Hutton for the listless Benoît Assou-Ekotto and adding Pavlyuchenko up front. It was far from subtle stuff. 'Roman's got an interpreter, I just said to him, "Tell him to just f**king run about,'" he said.

Though the Russian drifted a snap- shot past Reina's post, Liverpool soon returned to the fore. Gerrard struck post (via King's arm and Gomes' fingers) then bar with a finely measured chip. Kuyt put a free shot wide of one post, Xabi Alonso directed a free header wide of the other.

As Liverpool threatened a rout, Redknapp's men went long ball to find an undeserved equaliser. Still adjusting to Ryan Babel's unusual introduction at centre-forward, the visitors ceded a corner. David Bentley delivered and Carragher folded under pressure from King, heading into his own net.

The defender has now scored as many goals for Tottenham as he has managed in the League for Liverpool. In dire need of a regular scorer, Spurs have found one in the strangest place. When Pavlyuchenko gave them a winner they had found three points in an even stranger one. The only difference here for Liverpool, however, was that this defeat tells one gigantic lie.