Joël Matip own goal gives Tottenham win over nine-man Liverpool

It was a pulsating spectacle from start to finish and it is perhaps better to focus on the finish, despite everything that had gone before, the goals for either team and, more specifically, the two red cards for Liverpool.

Curtis Jones was the first to depart for a late tackle on Yves Bissouma in the 24th minute, a challenge that looked honest enough but increasingly bad on the replays, and Diogo Jota followed him on 69 minutes. On as a substitute for the second half, Jota was foolish to stretch into a challenge on Destiny Udogie, moments after being booked for a trip on the same player.

Jürgen Klopp had been hailed as a great innovator of the modern English game by the Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou, on Friday. But has Klopp ever set up in a 5-3-0 formation to try to preserve a point?

Spurs had camped in the Liverpool half from the second-half restart and, after Jota’s dismissal, they tried to turn the screw further. The crazy thing was that Klopp’s nine men looked set to hold firm. They barely gave up a chance and, as the game entered the sixth and final minute of stoppage time, Klopp could almost touch a stunning result.

And then it slipped away. Postecoglou showed his frustration when Dejan Kulusevski went back to Cristian Romero from the right wing. He had to attack. But Romero swiftly worked it back right to Pedro Porro and, when he drove over a low cross, Joel Matip swung a boot and sent the ball careering into the top of his own net.

As against Sheffield United here, Spurs had snatched the win at the very last. It was stunning, the celebrations wild. The natives in these parts are certainly loving Big Ange instead.

Klopp had started Cody Gakpo ahead of Darwin Núñez and it was the centre-forward who might have put a different complexion on the game in the early running, spinning and shooting after an Andy Robertson cut-back, only for Guglielmo Vicario to make a reaction save. When Robertson banged the rebound goalwards from an angle, Vicario saved again. Put it down as an excellent double stop.

Curtis Jones fouls Yves Bissouma before being shown a red card during the first half at Tottenham. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

The first red card did then change things, Liverpool’s third of the league season, Klopp reconfiguring to 4-4-1; Gakpo to the right, Mohamed Salah up top. It was an entirely modern-day decision, taking in the process of it.

The first thing to say is that Jones had eyes for the ball and actually brushed the top of it before he clattered into Bissouma, making his opponent’s ankle buckle alarmingly. The force was strong and, when there was an announcement on the big screen of the VAR check for serious foul play, everybody knew what was coming. The replays did look bad for Jones.

Liverpool’s sense of injustice deepened when Luis Díaz burst clear of Pedro Porro to finish brilliantly only to be flagged offside; a hairline decision that was upheld by the VAR.

Spurs had to score at that point to remind Liverpool that these kind of things come in threes. James Maddison, in space against the 10 men, sliced the visiting defence apart, playing in Richarlison behind Joe Gomez and, when the Brazilian crossed, there was Son, arriving to touch home. Postecoglou had found that he could not move Son from the No 9 position, despite Richarlison’s return. This was why.

Richarlison, who had blasted high at 0-0 in the 33rd minute, rattled the post just before the board went up to show six additional minutes of first-half stoppage-time. A flag went up, although it was hard to see why.

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At which point, Liverpool hauled themselves up off the canvas; a stunning finish to an engrossing first half. The equaliser was all about the threat of Gakpo and some extremely loose defending by Micky van de Ven. When Virgil van Dijk headed a Dominik Szoboszlai cross square, Gakpo was given too much room to turn and shoot by Van de Ven.

Vicario was helpless and he might have been beaten again before the interval when the dangerous Salah played a sumptuous low cross for Díaz, who slid and prodded wide from close in.

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Spurs pushed hard on to the front foot at the start of the second half and Liverpool needed Alisson to keep them level. First there was a tip away at full stretch from a Maddison shot bound for the top corner. Then there was an even smarter tip-over after Son had taken a touch on his chest and volleyed for the roof of the net.

Son had the ball in the net shortly afterwards, from a Richarlison cross after yet another lovely Maddison pass but Richarlison was offside. It was gripping stuff, Liverpool trying to punch on the counter, Bissouma snuffing one out from Salah and then buying a cheap foul off him, causing a yellow card-eruption by Salah. Bissouma flipped himself up from the ground, action hero-style.

Klopp had introduced Jota for Gakpo at half-time and the Portuguese let him down. Already booked for a trip on Udogie, he lunged at the same opponent almost immediately to leave the referee, Simon Hooper, with no choice.