Tottenham Hotspur missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup for the first time in four years as they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Liverpool on Sunday.

Needing to win by a big margin in order to take advantage of any slip ups, Tottenham were pressed back early in the game as Liverpool almost took an early lead when Yossi Benayoun missed the target from close range.

Fernando Torres should have had broken the deadlock in the 27th minute as he raced past the Spurs defense only to shoot wide with just the keeper to beat. However it was not long before Liverpool took the lead with Steven Gerrard finding Dirk Kuyt on the right flank whose curling cross was headed home by Torres from close range.

Spurs' first real chance of the match fell to Jermain Defoe who was played through the Liverpool defense but his effort was saved by Pepe Reina. The Liverpool keeper pulled off another good save from a Gareth Bale free kick minutes into the second half but though he was unable to hold on to the ball, the Spanish international recovered in time to prevent a goal on the rebound.

The visitors pressed ahead in search of an equalizer but were undone by an own goal as Alan Hutton deflected Kuyt's shot into his own net. Robbie Keane raised hopes of a comeback late in the game as he managed to score a goal against his own club in the 77th minute but Liverpool restored their two goal lead four minutes later through Benayoun to complete a comfortable victory in the end.