December 23, 2024

Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Liverpool #Liverpool

5.15pm EST 17:15

That’s it for tonight’s blog, I’ll leave you with Andy Hunter’s match report, and those from the other late games, including a howitzer from Haller. Goodnight!

Roberto Firmino’s late header punishes wasteful Spurs and sends Liverpool top

Sébastien Haller’s stunning West Ham strike pegs back Crystal Palace

Lallana comes close for Brighton but VAR steps in to save Fulham

Updated at 6.06pm EST

5.12pm EST 17:12

And here’s Jurgen Klopp

“The win was absolutely deserved. They are a top side – a counter-attacking monster – so you have to be really focussed, and because they don’t want the ball too much you have play around them and keep them busy. We did that really, really well. What a wonderful goal to win it, a nice corner and a sensational header from Bobby.

“[Jose Mourinho] didn’t say anything to me about my behaviour on the touchline. I thought he said the best team lost. [What about Rhys Williams and Curtis Jones?] My god! Outstanding. Come on, Rhys Williams! With the ball as well, he played a pass for our first goal. He has the right amount of confidence, he just kept it simple and made super challenges and interceptions. Absolutely incredible game, I have to say. And Curtis is a top, top-class player.”

Updated at 5.12pm EST

5.06pm EST 17:06

Here’s Jose

“So close to winning. We missed chances; we had the game under control. A draw would have been a bad result given our performance, so you can imagine how we feel with the defeat. It’s a very, very unfair result. We had the best chances and we were brilliant. It didn’t look like a team that was world champions playing against [an ordinary team]. At the end of the season we will see where we are. We have not been together for a long time and to be able to do what we did was fantastic. The result is the most important thing and it is terrible.

“I told [Jurgen Klopp] the best team lost. He disagreed and that’s his opinion. By the way, if I behave the way he does on the touchline, I am [sent off] a minute later. [He was animated…] Come on, that’s animated? That’s animated? Do you want me to take the board with the added time from the fourth official’s hands and see what happens to me? For some reason I am different, and that’s sad.”

4.57pm EST 16:57

I’d love to hear Jose Mourinho’s internal monologue right now. As good as Liverpool were and are, that was such a missed opportunity for Spurs. They missed three great chances to go 2-1 up and then lost the game to an admittedly excellent set-piece goal.

4.54pm EST 16:54

There was a VAR check on Firmino’s winning goal. Eric Dier went down on the edge of the area after a challenge with Jordan Henderson. Spurs weren’t happy but I don’t think it was a foul.

4.52pm EST 16:52

Klopp and Mourinho are having words, I think about Klopp’s harassment of the fourth official. It seems to be relatively civil. That was such a fascinating match. Liverpool dominated possession throughout, but Spurs will regret the manner of both goals and the opportunities missed by Harry Kane and Steven Bergwijn.

Klopp hugs his match winner Firmino. Photograph: Jon Super/AP

Updated at 5.04pm EST

4.50pm EST 16:50

Full time: Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Peep peep! Liverpool are top of the Premier League again, and good luck trying to catch them.

4.49pm EST 16:49

90+3 min Aurier wins a corner for Spurs. This is their last chance…

4.49pm EST 16:49

90+2 min Three minutes of added time. Reguilon’s cross is flapped away by the stretching Alisson.

4.48pm EST 16:48

90+1 min It was a brilliant header but Spurs will be disgusted to lose to such a basic goal. Kane and Alderweireld were both in the vicinity, but Firmino got to the ball first and thumped it in.

4.47pm EST 16:47

Robertson swung a superb corner towards Firmino, who got in front of Alderweireld and thumped an emphatic header into the corner!

Updated at 4.54pm EST

4.46pm EST 16:46

GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham (Firmino 90)

Liverpool have nicked it!

Firmino scores for Liverpool in the dying seconds. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images Firmino celebrates with Mane and Salah. Photograph: Jon Super/Reuters

Updated at 5.02pm EST

4.46pm EST 16:46

89 min Liverpool break and Dele Alli is lucky not to be booked for following a cynical foul by kicking the ball away.

4.45pm EST 16:45

88 min Lucas Moura is fouled 30 yards from goal by Fabinho. It’s probably too far out for a shot, though Eric Dier looks interested.

4.43pm EST 16:43

87 min Good sweeper-keeping from Alisson, who comes out of his area to intercept Kane’s long pass towards Son. That’s Son’s last involvement: he is replaced by Dele Alli.

Updated at 4.43pm EST

4.39pm EST 16:39

83 min Mane lofts a very deep cross to Jones, who takes it down and hits a shot that is blocked by Davies. Attack and defence, invasion and repulsion…

4.39pm EST 16:39

82 min Tottenham look really tired now, Hojbjerg and Sissoko in particular. Liverpool are moving the ball constantly from side to side in an attempt to find some space.

4.38pm EST 16:38

81 min Mane runs at Aurier and cuts the ball back dangerously. Happily for Spurs, it goes straight to Reguilon, who controls it and launches it as far as possible. But back it comes…

4.37pm EST 16:37

79 min: Just wide from Kane! Dier drove an angled pass over the defence to Kane, who took it down on the chest but then slipped. That meant he had to take the shot early when he got to his feet, with defenders closing in on him at the edge of the box. Kane curled it towards the far post and Alisson tipped it round the post. A goalkick was given but I’m pretty sure that was a save, and a good one. That said, had Kane scored it might have been disallowed for handball by Sissoko in the build-up, when he miscontrolled hte ball onto his outstretched arm.

Updated at 4.38pm EST

4.35pm EST 16:35

79 min Liverpool are totally dominant now, though most of their possession in the second half has been in front of the Spurs defence. This is such a compelling game.

4.33pm EST 16:33

76 min Hojbjerg and Sissoko have worked incredibly hard tonight. Spurs make another change: Sergio Reguilon replaces Steven Bergwijn, who had two great chances to give Spurs the lead.

4.31pm EST 16:31

75 min This is a very good spell for Liverpool, and Alexander-Arnold wins another corner off Hojbjerg. It’s played short to Salah, whose cross is claimed with authority by Lloris.

4.31pm EST 16:31

73 min: Mane hits the bar! This is great stuff now. Jones stabs a little pass towards Mane in the area. He rolls Aurier brilliantly and thrashes a left-footed drive that is partially blocked by Aurier but still has enough force to roar past Lloris and onto the top of the bar.

4.29pm EST 16:29

72 min Liverpool have won 31 of the last 32 league games at Anfield. The exception was a 1-1 draw with Burnley after they had won the title last season.

4.27pm EST 16:27

71 min Robertson is lucky not to be booked for a foul on the breaking Lucas Moura.

4.27pm EST 16:27

70 min Firmino’s shot is blocked by Dier. He made the (half-) chance with a lovely bit of footwork on the edge of the area.

4.26pm EST 16:26

69 min: Chance for Salah! Kane miscontrolls the ball near the halfway line, allowing Williams to nip in and make a tackle that turns into a defence-splitting pass to Salah in the inside-right channel. He moves into the area but hits a tame right-footed shot that is comfortably saved to his right by Lloris.

4.24pm EST 16:24

67 min Robinson did catch Aurier in the face, with his hip I think, but it was a complete accident.

4.23pm EST 16:23

67 min Aurier stays down after a challenge from Robertson. Liverpool continue and Firmino’s shot on the turn deflects into the arms of Lloris.

4.22pm EST 16:22

66 min “Strong and powerful, he injects confidence, purpose and vitality everywhere he goes,” says Phil Podolsky. “Which is what all of us, never mind West Brom, so desperately need right now. Big Sam’s Big Comeback couldn’t have come at a better time.”

I’ve just added three West Brom defenders to my Fantasy team, so I think I know who’s winning.

4.21pm EST 16:21

64 min: Kane misses a great chance! The resulting corner from Son is headed into the ground and over the bar by Kane, who was only six yards from goal. Maybe it dipped at the last minute, which would explain why he headed it straight down into the ground. Maybe.

Updated at 4.23pm EST

4.20pm EST 16:20

63 min: Bergwijn hits the post! Another big chance for Spurs. Lloris’s long kick was headed on first by Kane and then by Son, who got above Fabinho (I think). Bergwijn scurried into the area, opened his body and curled the ball towards the far corner. It beat Alisson and thumped off the base of the post, with Fabinho putting the rebound behind for a corner.

Syeven Bergwijn of Tottenham shoots wide. Photograph: Bradley Ormesher/Bradley Ormesher NMCPool

Updated at 4.48pm EST

4.18pm EST 16:18

61 min There’s no space at all between the Spurs defence and midfield. At times it looks like an 8-0-2 formation rather than 4-4-2.

4.17pm EST 16:17

59 min Jurgen Klopp has spent much of the game moaning at the fourth official, and he’s at it again when Mane is penalised for a challenge on Aurier.

4.15pm EST 16:15

58 min Spurs make a change, and an attacking one at that: Lucas Moura replaces Giovani Lo Celso.

4.14pm EST 16:14

57 min Salah’s long-range shot bounces up awkwardly and is pushed behind by the diving Lloris. He probably could have caught it but decided to take no risks.

4.13pm EST 16:13

57 min “Whatever about Salah,” says Niall Mullen. “Liverpool should have a look at that Benteke lad. He looks a player.”

4.13pm EST 16:13

56 min Liverpool are starting to dominate possession again. Spurs do look a threat, though, more so than in the first half.

4.11pm EST 16:11

54 min Hojbjerg is booked for a brazen rugby tackle on Firmino, who had beaten him with a delicious touch.

4.10pm EST 16:10

53 min Alexander-Arnold’s cross is headed over his own bar by Dier. The corner is cleared, and that’s the end of that.

4.08pm EST 16:08

52 min Lo Celso finds Kane, who cracks a rising drive over the bar from 25 yards. Spurs have made a bright start to the second half.

4.08pm EST 16:08

50 min: What an effort from Kane! Alisson had the ball on the edge of the area and tried to play a pass to Alexander-Arnold on the right. Kane slid in to intercept, got to his feet and lofted a left-footed chip towards goal from 40 yards. Alisson got back desperately to flap it behind for a corner. I think Kane’s chip was going just wide anyway but it was a brilliant attempt.

Kane shoots at goal Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters

Updated at 4.25pm EST

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