Premier League

TOTTENHAM 2 (Son 36, Matip 90+6 og)
LIVERPOOL 1 (Gakpo 45+4, Jones sent off 26, Jota sent off 69)

ANOTHER late, late winner at White Hart Lane this evening (Saturday) moved Tottenham up to second as Ange Postecoglou’s team earned a 2-1 win over Liverpool in dramatic fashion.

It took an injury-time own goal to seal the three points against opponents reduced to nine men, while Liverpool also had a goal incorrectly ruled out.

The win keeps Tottenham’s unbeaten Premier League record intact and hands Jurgen Klopp his first defeat of the season.

Postecoglou was particularly pleased with the manner of the victory. Speaking post-match, he said: “We have faced some significant challenges in the first seven weeks of the season. I have been really pleased with how we have dealt with them. Today, you’d want to put the game to bed before we did, but a late winner puts spirit and belief into the team.”

Liverpool had everyone behind the ball to stifle and frustrate – but Spurs have resilience and belief and kept at it. The winner was deserved, but came in an untidy fashion. With one minute of added-time left, Pedro Porro popped up on the right, and his cross led the unfortunate Joel Matip to tangle a clearance and steer home past his own keeper.

While Klopp bemoaned the sendings off of Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota as game changers, they came through Tottenham’s midfield dominance, personified by the work of Yves Bissouma.

Bissouma has a middleweight’s upper body coupled with a ballerina’s balance. With the ball under the spell of the outside of his right boot, his eyes ranging for gaps, shoulders protecting possession, he stands up for tackles and powers into spaces. Bissouma is the rock in this Tottenham team.

Bissouma’s ability led to tactical fouls and a deck of yellow cards. When his feet were too quick for Jones, the referee had to reach for a red. Jones had in fact got to the ball first, but his foot rolled over the top of the ball and his studs planted into the Spurs man’s shin. Following a VAR intervention referee Simon Hooper gave Jones his marching orders.

It got better for Spurs numerically on 69 minutes when another tug on Bissouma, and a follow up foul on Destiny Udogie, saw substitute Diogo Jota earn two yellows in a matter of minutes.

The reds for the Reds, of course, altered the complexion of the match. Before then, it was honours even in terms of chances.

On 12 minutes Guglielmo Vicario showed his worth with a superb double stop, first from Cody Gakpo from close range and then Andy Robertson’s driven follow up as Liverpool started brightly.

At the other end, Richarlison got in and his low ball trundled agonisingly across goal, pleading for the finish. Dejan Kulusevski’s outstretched toe did not, however, extend far enough.

Then came the first game changing moment. Jones caught Bissouma full on the ankle. It was nasty and referee Hooper saw enough on second glance to deliver a red.

If Tottenham needed further proof that it was going to be their day, it came soon after when Liverpool were wrongly denied the opening goal.

Luis Diaz tucked home Mo Salah’s through ball but the officials quickly ruled the midfielder was offside without ever showing the customary offside line graphics. PGMOL has since issued a statement admitting that a “significant human error” took place, calling the decision to rule out Diaz’s goal “a clear and obvious factual error”.

Somewhat predictably, Spurs took the lead minutes later when Richarlison squared for Heung-min Son to tap home and make it 1-0.

It was boisterous football. Spurs found gaps whenever they progressed but as the half went into stoppage time, it was Liverpool who found a way through. A slowness in clearing their lines saw a back post cross find the unmarked Virgil van Dijk, ghosting away from Porro. His cushioned header went back across the face of the goal, and Gakpo spun Micky van de Ven and equalised.

Tottenham came out fighting after the break. James Maddison forced Allison into a world class leap-and-claw save at the far post, while a Son chest-and-volley combination was also tipped over by the Liverpool keeper. Son then thought he had given Spurs the lead on the hour mark when Udogie squared neatly for the forward to finish, but the full-back was offside.

On 69 minutes, a series of fouls on the powerhouse Udogie saw Jota earn a second yellow after a cynical trip made it a contest of nine-versus-11.

Then, as fans were thinking they’d have probably been happy with a draw before kick off, came another post-90 minute winner. Porro drifted right and as a white-shirted phalanx of Richarlison, Oliver Skipp, Alejo Veliz, Ben Davies, and Manor Solomon gathered for his cross, the unfortunate Matip went to block and instead deflected home the winner.

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie (Davies, 82), Bissouma (Hojbjerg, 89), Kulusevski, Sarr (Skipp, 82), Maddison (Veliz, 89), Son (Solomon, 67), Richarlison
Substitutes not used: Forster, Royal, Phillips, Donley

Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez (Konate, 74), Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister (Gravenberch, 79), Jones (sent off 26), Diaz (Endo, 72), Salah (Alexander-Arnold, 72), Gakpo (Jota, HT. Jota sent off 69)
Substitutes not used: Kelleher, Nunez, Elliot, Tsimikas