Liverpool vs Tottenham LIVE: Result and reaction from Premier League clash as Jota scores late winner
Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham: Diogo Jota’s late goal earns dramatic victory for Jurgen Klopp’s side
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What a game. Tottenham once more displayed the fortitude that saw them comeback against Manchester United in their last outing but this time it wasn’t enough.
From the outset things looked bad for Ryan Mason’s side as Liverpool scored twice in the opening five minutes as Curtis Jones and the returning Luis Diaz fired home from close range. A shocking tackle from Cristian Romero then set up Mo Salah to score from the penalty spot and Spurs were trailing by three after quarter of an hour.
It took them another 20 minutes to grow into the game but the ended the half in fine fashion with Harry Kane volleying home Son Heung-min’s cross to pull one back and send the visitors into the break with some belief. The second half saw Spurs utilise the counter-attack effectively but it was a long ball that fed Son into the penalty area where he slotted a low effort past Alisson.
But the game was decided from the bench. Richarlison came on for Spurs and found the equaliser in stoppage time only for Diogo Jota to pounce on Lucas Moura’s loose backpass to win the game just over a minute later.
Relive the action from Anfield as Liverpool and Tottenham clashed in the Premier League:
Liverpool, Tottenham and how two substitutes conjured a thrilling finale
For Tottenham, the finish was as harrowing as the start, but for very different reasons. The humiliation came at the beginning, the sense this was a sorry sequel to their disastrous Sunday at Newcastle. The cruelty came at the last, the way the team who thought they had engineered a reverse Istanbul, coming from 3-0 down to peg Liverpool back, instead departed defeated. The majority at Anfield have savoured a famous 4-3 triumph or two over the years – one of the greatest of all Premier League games, against Newcastle, or the aggregate scoreline against Barcelona in a Champions League tie that took them to a final against Tottenham – and this became another.
It came down to two substitutes. Ryan Mason had conjured a second comeback in four days for Spurs, but went on the offensive by sending on wingers Arnaut Danjuma and Lucas Moura, telling wingers to masquerade as wing-backs. And so the Brazilian found himself in unfamiliar territory when Alisson punted the ball forward. If he was looking to find Cristian Romero, Moura instead only located Diogo Jota. The Liverpool substitute proved the coolest man in a febrile Anfield, slotting a shot under Fraser Forster.
Among other things, it meant that the Portuguese, after a year without a goal, had five in four matches. After a season of trailing Tottenham, Liverpool had beaten them and leapfrogged them. For the first time this season, Jurgen Klopp’s team have four consecutive victories in all competitions. Yet if they have timed their charge too late to have a realistic chance of reaching the Champions League, their revival remains endangered by defensive frailties.
Liverpool, Tottenham and how two substitutes conjured a breathtaking finale
Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur: Lucas Moura assisted Diogo Jota to give up Spurs’ hard-earned draw at Anfield
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp speaking to Sky Sports: “For a long period of the first half it was the best game we had played so far. First half was good, we conceded a goal but it was the first time we didn’t defend properly.
“Apart from that the first half was good. The problem is Spurs do not change at all, they go for counter attacks even at 3-1 down. They just defend, counter attack and get set pieces and that makes it tricky.
“We got away with it thank to Diogo Jota, it makes it spectacular and everybody goes home buzzing, but I am the manager of the team so I have to mention everything else as well. In 3 days’ time we have to do better.
“They had a defensive set up, but the way we started the game was brilliant, everything was there. It was nearly perfect but it seemed to lead us on the wrong path.”
Return of Luis Diaz highlights every area Liverpool’s Champions League bid is falling short
For the first time in 203 days, Luis Diaz was in the Liverpool starting lineup. For the first time in 203 days, Luis Diaz produced a goalscoring impact.
Back in early October, the Colombian assisted a goal before going off injured against Arsenal, a knee problem requiring two separate spells on the sidelines either side of a brief, non-playing return to training just as the World Cup wrapped up.
Fast forward to Sunday, it was the other half of north London who suffered at his hands, or rather his right boot - he smacked in the second of the day against Tottenham, quickly putting the Reds two goals up on their way to an eventual, mad-cap 4-3 victory.
Diaz highlights every area Liverpool’s top-four bid is falling short
Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham: The Colombian netted the Reds’ second goal on his first league start since 9 October
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
More thoughts from Diogo Jota who told BBC Match of the Day: “A big moment for me and the team. Scoring a last-minute winner is always a day to remember. For all the people involved here it will be a special game.
“Being 3-0 up is something we need to work on because it’s not really acceptable for it to be 3-3 at that point. The mentality was there because we went forward and believed we could score the winner. Fortunately we could do that for everyone.
“Four wins in a row is really important especially at this stage of the season where everything gets decided. We have to keep on going and we now have another game at Anfield and need to take advantage.
“It’s not a great tackle [his challenge on Oliver Skipp]. I also touched the ball. I also think he gets his head down. It’s just brave from him. Unfortunately it’s a foot in the face. I saw the ref could see I didn’t mean it and it’s just football.”
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
Interim Tottenham manager Ryan Mason speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: “To give a team a three goal lead makes it almost impossible to come back from.
“The feeling is that we can score goals and hurt opponents. We created chances, they didn’t give us anything we had to work for that. To equalise at the end and then give away another goal is so hard to take.
“I probably speak for everyone that there was some fear [after conceded three goals]. To give a team goals, it’s hard to understand why. We need to address that and be better. After that we showed togetherness.
“I don’t know how many shots they had on target but it felt like we had more.
“This is the Premier League, it’s relentless and you have to be ready to fight for 95 minutes. We conceded three terrible goals and it’s hard to explain why that happended. It’s tough to take.”
Comparing Harry Kane’s goalscoring record with the Premier League’s best
Harry Kane moved joint-second in the all-time Premier League scoring chart with a goal in Tottenham’s defeat at Liverpool.
Having moved alongside Wayne Rooney on 208, Kane has only record scorer Alan Shearer ahead of him in the years since the top flight’s rebranding.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how he compares:
Comparing Harry Kane’s goalscoring record with the Premier League’s best
The Tottenham striker has only Alan Shearer ahead of him in the years since the top-flight’s rebranding.
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
Reaction from Harry Kane who spoke to Sky Sports: “Dreadful start, and not for the first time this season. We need to understand why. 20 minutes was one game, then for 70 plus five minutes I think we had better chances and we deserved to get back in the game.
“That last few seconds is hard to put into words, how that happens and why that happens is hard to put into words.
“We have shown we can come back in games but the starts we have had, it is hard to talk about. There are only so many words you can use, you have to actually go out there and do it. We have conceded pretty much in the first minute in the last three games.
“If you draw that game you take that point into the rest of the final four games but instead it is a gut-wrenching defeat and that is hard to take. The table don’t lie. We have some fantastic players but overall as a team we are not playing good enough. We need to find a way when things are not going our way.
“This is hard to take, we have to look at this. A sucker punch. I live in the moment and I live to give 110% every day in every place I am.”
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
Liverpool have won four consecutive games in all competitions, their longest such run of the season, having last won four in a row in May 2022 (six).
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
Liverpool have scored 41 90th+ minute winning goals in the Premier League, at least 11 more than any other side, while Tottenham have conceded 26 such winners, also a competition-high.
There were just 99 seconds between Spurs making it 3-3 and Liverpool scoring their winner.
FT Liverpool 4-3 Tottenham
Liverpool goalscorer Diogo Jota speaking to Sky Sports: “We made it hard for ourselves. After 3-0 up we need to avoid being in this situation. In the end it will be a day to remember, the winner is always something special.
“Everyone dreams of scoring a last-minute winner. I saw the ball that wasn’t properly defended. I believed I could score and it was fantastic.
“At that moment [when he came off the bench] it was important to get second balls, that’s what he [Jurgen Klopp] asked of me. The second goal gave Tottenham confidence, it’s Premier League and it’s hard to manage.
“Yeah. It feels great and we just need to keep on going.”
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