Sturridge was mostly brilliant and would have had more goals if not for a couple of moments of shoddiness, but in the end his two goals were enough to give Liverpool a deserved victory. Into the quarter-finals they march.
90+3 min: Winks strides forward from midfield. Lamela, chariging in from the left, roars for a pass. There are other options, too, but none of them easy. So Winks decides the best option is to have a pop himself, but his left-footer never looked like hitting the target.
90+2 min: Wimmer booked for shoving Ings after the striker flipped the ball away.
90+1 min: There’ll be at least three more minutes, right after Winks is booked for tripping Ings on half-way.
90 min: Liverpool take a corner short to Moreno. He carries the ball towards the box, then nudges it to Clyne on the outside. The right-back’s rasping low shot fizzes wide.
Liverpool substitution: Can on, Grujic off.
88 min: Ings sprints on to a ball over the top ... is the fairytale return about to be realised? He lashes a ferocious shot on the bounce at goal - but Vorm beats it away well!
86 min: What a chance for Spurs! Ejaria gave the ball away in midfield and suddenly Spurs had a great counter-attacking opportunity. A long pass from the left by Lamela found Harrison on his own just inside the Liverpool box. One sure touch and a finish and the youngster will announce his arrival in unforgettable fashion. But his chest-control is fractionally too heavy and Mignolet rushes out to crush his dream.
84 min: Grujic booked as the tension climbs higher.
Tottenham substitution: Harrison on, Nkoudou off. The former is a young striker, the latter was a disappointment.
83 min: Liverpool have an amazing ability to turn even the most humdrum strolls into nerve-wracking ordeals...
82 min: Wanyama beats Lucas brilliantly at the edge of the box and then smashes a low shot towards the far corner. Mignolet dives and holds, which was just as well because Janssen was ready and waiting for spillage.
80 min: Liverpool counter-attack. Sturridge tries to recreate the goal he scored against Sevilla in the Europa League final, but it takes a nick off a defender ... and bounces out off the crossbar!
78 min: A snappy passing move takes Tottenham all the way into the Liverpool box, whereupon Lamela went down again, this time under a tackle by Moreno. The Spaniard caught his foot after winning the ball, and then leaned out an arm to prevent Lamela from running around to collect the ball. But the ref decides not to award a penalty this time.
The Dutchman smashes it into the net as Mignolet goes the wrong way.
Lamela goes down after Lucas felt for the ball from behind him, waving a leg but making little or not contact. Never a foul, but a great chance for Spurs to get back into the game.
73 min: Another foul on Ejaria, this time by Wanyama. Wijnaldum gets power and dip on his freekick but it’s too close to Vorm to be truly dangerous. The keeper punches clear with both fists, because he just doesn’t trust himself to catch, apparently.
72 min: Liverpool are rampant now, Spurs crawling. Sturridge ghosts down the right and plays the ball through to Grujic, whose shot is blocked by the last defender.
71 min: Sturridge leans back and curls the freekick a copule of yards over the bar.
70 min: Freekick to Liverpool as Wimmer takes out the twinkle-toed Ejaria. Sturridge fancies a hat-trick and is lining up as shot from 20 yards.
Liverpool substitutions: Ings and Clyne on, Origi and Alexander-Arnold off. Ings gets a heartening reception on his first appearance back from injury in over a year. Alexander-Arnold gets a fond farewell, plus a big hug from Klopp. We’ll be seeing the youngster again, that’s for sure.
Tottenham substitution: Wanyama on, Dier off.
No mistake this time! Origin collects the ball on half way, spun and passed to Wijanldum, who slotted it between Spurs’ last two defenders, inviting Sturridge to run on to it, which he did. With a little feint the striker tried to put Vorm down but the keeper didn’t buy it, so Sturridge slotted the ball between his legs and into the net!
63 min: Stewart continues to play well, buzzing around the pitch with moxy and passing with quality.
Tottenham substitution: Lamela on, Carroll off.
59 min: Things are really livening up now, thanks to Liverpool. Origi blasts a missile goalward from 25 yards, forcing Vorm to fly across goal and tip it over. No showing off this time, that was the only way t he keeper could have kept the shot out.
55 min: Wijnaldum jinks his way into the box and smacks a low, hard pass to Sturridge near the penalty spot. A sumptuous touch from the striker takes him past Carter-Vickers, who reaches backwards to impede Sturridge slightly and enable Vorm to rush off the line to get to the ball first. Sturridge has one goal, has shown plenty of foxy touches, has bungled two easy chances and was thwarted there by skullduggery. What an enraging marvel he can be.
53 min: Oh Sturridge! Lucas played a nice ball into the right channel. Origi races on to it and whips a perfect pass across the face of goal: all Sturridge has to do is sidefoot it into the net from six yards ... but he takes his eye off it and hits the ball with the wrong part of his foot, sending it backwards, for goodness sake.
51 min: Janssen receives the ball into the box from a throw-in. He uses his strength to hold off Lucas and then kicks the ball over his head to Tripper, who is about 10 yards outside the box, on the far side. He tries to bash a dipping half-volley over Mignolet and into the net but hits it a touch too hard so it flies over the bar.
49 min: It’s all so scrappy and dull.
46 min: Dier booked for taking down Wijnaldum from behind. Deserved. The booking, I mean.
46 min: The teams are back out. Neither has made any change. Let’s hope for an improvement, all the same.
A propos of oh nothing, why not have a look at this rousing clip from a superb film about refugees.