Kuyt at the double for Liverpool

Dirk Kuyt
12 April 2012

Dirk Kuyt's double strike injected new life into Liverpool's stuttering Barclays Premier League campaign as it secured a 2-0 victory over Tottenham.

The Holland international fired home in the sixth minute from the edge of the area and then converted a twice-taken penalty in second-half injury time.

Victory lifted the Reds to within one point of fourth-placed Spurs and eased the pressure on manager Rafael Benitez after early exits from the Champions League and FA Cup.

Liverpool started brightly and opened the scoring when Kuyt fired a low shot past Heurelho Gomes' right-hand after the ball had broken loose on the edge of the area.

Kuyt almost added a second just before the interval when his header from Albert Riera's corner was blocked by Gareth Bale.

Moments later Luka Modric's shot was saved well low to his left by Jose Reina. Liverpool have made a season of failing to hang on to leads and they almost gifted Spurs an equaliser straight after the restart.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos dithered on the ball before surprising Reina with a short back-pass which immediately put the goalkeeper under pressure from Jermain Defoe.

Fortunately for the Spaniard the Tottenham striker was adjudged to have fouled him seconds before Peter Crouch rolled the ball into an unguarded net.

Riera almost doubled Liverpool's lead in the 52nd minute when his header from Jamie Carragher's cross beat Gomes but crashed back off the crossbar. Jermaine Jenas then saw a 25-yarder tipped away by Reina before Kuyt and Riera went close again for the hosts.

Spurs continued to threaten and Alan Hutton's spectacular volley curled around the outside of Reina's right-hand post. But Kuyt sealed victory for the Reds in stoppage-time, converting a retaken penalty after David Ngog had been hauled down by fellow subsitute Sebastien Bassong.

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