Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool
Liverpool have finally broken their winless away record thanks to a narrow victory in an electrifying clash away to Spurs on Sunday.
Mo Salah finished brilliantly to give the Reds an early lead and he doubled his and his team’s tally before break, thanks to a piece of woeful Spurs defending. Harry Kane pulled one back with 20 minutes remaining and while the hosts were twice denied by the woodwork Liverpool held on for a vital three points.
Premier League: Spurs vs Liverpool was a six pointer with all the ingredients needed for a Sunday special. The hosts started the game in fourth position and ten points clear of their visitors, and the two teams began the game neck and neck in the latest SBOTOP odds to take a Champions League place.
They still are but this was Liverpool and Salah’s day.
Highlights of the game
The Spurs vs Liverpool highlights certainly didn’t disappoint.
Tottenham have been slow starters in recent weeks and Liverpool took advantage within 11 action packed minutes. Darwin Nunez has scored on his previous two visits to London and he was the first to player to have a shot in anger, getting behind the Spurs defence and unleashing a fierce shot which Hugo Lloris parried to safety. But the keeper could do nothing to stop Mo Salah’s low shot after Liverpool ripped open the Spurs defence down the left wing.
The hosts responded well and were an inch away from levelling on the quarter hour, when Harry Kane evaded two challenges and crossed for Ivan Perisic who headed against the post with Alisson beaten. And a minute later the Liverpool keeper spilled a shot from Pierre-Emille Hojbjerg before the ball was hacked to safety.
Ryan Sessegnon had a good shout for a penalty when he was pushed to the ground by Trent Alexander-Arnold but the referee and VAR were unmoved, much to the home fans’ fury. And their anger was doubled before the break as Salah grabbed his second thanks to a horrific piece of defending.
Liverpool lobbed a harmless ball forward which Eric Dier met with a dreadful header, right into the path of the lethal Egyption who lifted the ball over Lloris and into the net.
Spurs have fought back successfully on a number of occasions this season and they came out all guns blazing and, in their first attack, Perisic was again denied by the woodwork, this time seeing his first-time shot crash back off the crossbar. But as the hosts threw men forward Liverpool were dangerous on the break as Salah searched for his hat-trick.
When the third goal came it was substitute Dejan Kulusevski who made an immediate impact, racing into the Liverpool third and slipping a pass through to Kane who finished instinctively into the far corner to set up a pulsating last 20 minutes.
Liverpool were panicked, and the Whites had another penalty shout when Kane was bundled over, and then Clement Lenglet headed over from a corner when he should have scored. Rodrigo Bentancur saw his header saved by Alisson and the home fans were howling again when the Liverpool keeper clashed with Matt Doherty as Spurs threw the kitchen sink at it.
With two minutes to play Kane flicked a header just wide and Bentancur was inches away from turning the ball in, but Liverpool held on for their first away league win of the campaign.
Key statistics
The pre-match Spurs vs Liverpool betting odds backed a Liverpool win and with eight shots to three, and four to two on target the Reds deserved their half time lead. Spurs roared back and by the end they had almost matched Liverpool with 13 shots each and five to six on target.
Spurs keeper and captain Hugo Lloris made his 100th consecutive Premier League appearance, the longest current run of any player in the division.
Before this game Liverpool had won just 16 points from 12 league games, just one more than the 15 they accrued from six Champions League matches, but they have closed the gap to fourth place to seven points.
What’s next?
There’s just one round of fixtures to go before the World Cup in Qatar takes centre stage, and next week Tottenham are at home to Leeds United who had a dramatic 4-3 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. But before that clash, Antonio Conte’s team travel away to Nottingham Forest for an EFL Cup third round tie. Liverpool have a chance to gather some momentum when they host third tier Derby County in the EFL Cup, and then the Reds welcome Southampton to Anfield for a league clash next Saturday. The Saints are in a relegation battle in 18th place after losing at home to Newcastle United on Sunday.
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