It wasn't perfect, but Liverpool made the most of a dominant performance in securing a 3-1 victory over Tottenham in London on Thursday.
Goals by Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mané were enough to seal the three points for the visiting Reds, while Tottenham's Pierre-Emile Højbjerg made things interesting with an early second-half strike.
It was actually Spurs who started the match on the front foot, with Son Heung-min finding the back of the net in the third minute. Unfortunately for the Londoners, Son was judged to be offside as a VAR check determined that his heel was just inches ahead of the final defender when Harry Kane's through-ball was made.
Tottenham would look dangerous throughout the early stages, as it was obvious that the home side's strategy was to hit on the counter through Kane and Son. It nearly worked, although Kane's exit at half-time with an ankle injury ended that strategy and forced Spurs manager Jose Mourinho to re-evaluate.
Liverpool found the opener through Firmino just moments before Kane's departure, when the Brazilian redirected a Mané cross into the net. Liverpool doubled the lead through Alexander-Arnold two minutes after the break and appeared to be cruising, but Højbjerg's booming strike less than two minutes later brought Tottenham back into the match.
Liverpool then had a goal called offside in the 56th minute, but didn't have to wait long to find an insurance marker. Mané, who had terrorized Spurs' backline all evening, put the match away with a goal of his own five minutes after the hour mark by taking advantage of a miscue by Spurs defender Joe Rodon.
The result sees Liverpool back into the top four as Jurgen Klopp's side leaps over West Ham with 37 points, just four fewer than league-leading Manchester City.
DAZN News provided live commentary of the match below. Here's how it went down: