LONDON (AP):

Mario Balotelli went from forgotten man to match winner at Liverpool as his late goal against Tottenham tightened up the race for Champions League qualification in the Premier League yesterday.

The maverick Italy striker came off the bench for just his second appearance in a month, and pounced for an 83rd-minute strike to secure Liverpool a 3-2 win after the team had twice surrendered the lead at Anfield.

Arsenal, another team battling for a Champions League berth, scraped a 2-1 win over last-place Leicester to bounce back from their north London derby loss to Spurs and provisionally move level on points with third-place Southampton.

There are just three points between Southampton, whose game in hand is on today, and seventh-place Liverpool. Tottenham are sixth, a point ahead of Liverpool.

In yesterday's other two games, Hull and Queens Park Rangers beat rivals for relegation to climb out of the bottom three. QPR's 2-0 win at Sunderland ended their run of 11 straight losses in Premier League away games, while Hull won by the same score over Aston Villa, who dropped into the relegation zone and have now lost five straight games.

Liverpool fans arrived at Anfield to celebrate the first start after a long injury lay-off for Daniel Sturridge. They left singing the name of another striker.

Balotelli's future at Liverpool has looked bleak in recent months, with manager Brendan Rodgers acknowledging that the Italy international's lack of mobility doesn't suit the team ethos. Balotelli also hadn't scored a league goal since moving from AC Milan.

That changed when he poked in a cross from fellow substitute Adam Lallana, although he barely raised a smile as he was mobbed by teammates.