Riera, making his first appearance since the goalless draw at Blackburn Rovers six weeks earlier, had become something of a forgotten man among all the high-profile absentees, but last night provided a genuine outlet and wing play that Liverpool have been lacking in recent weeks.

Benitez’s protective stance on Aquilani may polarise opinion, but the manager will not be swayed from gradually working the Italian back to full fitness, no matter how pressing Liverpool’s circumstance. And it took only six minutes for his decision to start with the £20million man to pay dividends, with Aquilani playing a significant role in a surprisingly straightforward opening goal.

It was real route-one stuff. Pepe Reina, having grabbed a dangerous Gareth Bale cross at the third attempt, swiftly pumped the ball upfield to the edge of the visiting penalty area towards Aquilani. The Italian then rolled a short pass into the path of Kuyt to finish first time into the bottom corner beyond Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

The first half was a real war of attrition that, while low on quality, was high on incident and tension. Carragher’s trademark tenacity won a corner in first-half injury time from which Benitez’s side should have doubled their advantage. After Gomes flapped at Reina’s delivery, Kuyt’s diving header was cleared off the line by Bale before Skrtel blasted the rebound wastefully over.

Moments later, Reina was pressed into his first real save of the match, diving low to his left to beat out a Luka Modric shot after a Wilson Palacios pass had given the Croatian rare space inside the Liverpool penalty area.

Tottenham thought they had equalised shortly when Defoe dispossessed Reina before firing into the empty net, only for referee Howard Webb and his assistants to decide the striker had been offside in an earlier passage of play.

Liverpool came close again on 51 minutes when Carragher sent over a deep cross from the right and Riera, rising above Vedran Corluka, smacked a header against the bar.

With the game opening up, Defoe should have passed to the unmarked Crouch in the penalty area, while Reina produced a resourceful stop to paw behind a swerving Jermaine Jenas drive.

As Tottenham cranked up the pressure, Liverpool could ill afford Degen and Kuyt refusing to pull the trigger between them after a break sparked by determined play from Riera.

Kuyt then blazed over on the volley at the far post after Degen flicked on Aquilani’s free-kick, and Riera shot narrowly over from 25 yards.

The final five minutes were frantic. Substitute David Ngog brought a fine save from Gomes before Kuyt missed another glorious opportunity, firing over from four yards after being found by Ngog’s cushioned header.

Still the chances came, Kyrgiakos beating the Tottenham offside trap to latch on to Skrtel’s hooked pass but thrashed straight at Gomes.

But Kuyt finally made the game safe when he netted a twice-taken penalty in injury time after Ngog was felled by Tottenham substitute Sebastian Bassong. The battle is now on.