Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the Premier League to gain a much-needed boost in the top-four fight.
The visitors started fast and took a deserved lead just over ten minutes in, Darwin Nunez teeing up Mohamed Salah to fire home after a neat piece of control.
Spurs’ response was gradual but almost effective; Ivan Perisic saw a glancing header diverted onto the post by Alisson in their closest attempt but, shortly before the break, the Reds’ lead was doubled as Eric Dier’s attempted header back to his goalkeeper was woefully short and Salah raced in to clip home a second.
The hosts started the second half far better and Perisic again hit the woodwork, the bar this time after a Ryan Sessegnon cutback, but it took until the 69th minute for Harry Kane to finally reduce the arrears with a clinical finish. Spurs pushed on looking for an equaliser but Jurgen Klopp’s side just about held on for their first away league win of the campaign.
Here are the player ratings from north London on Sunday.
Tottenham
Hugo Lloris, 5. No chance with the first goal, sat down for the second and almost gifted a third by dallying in possession. Mostly had a watching brief in the second half, mind.
Eric Dier, 6. Pushed to the right of three in Cristian Romero’s absence and although he tried to be an outlet in the channel, defensively he was all over the place. Easily outmuscled by Nunez more than once and an attempted header came off his shoulder to gift Salah his second goal. One of those who forced the issue after the restart, pushing forward and taking men on,
Clement Lenglet, 5. Not even close to the organisational presence Spurs required in the middle. Closed down regularly, didn’t track runners and missed a few important interceptions too. One header over as Spurs chased an equaliser.
Ben Davies, 6. Fortunate to escape a booking for a late tackle on Elliott. Another who made individual errors in possession at the back and he was lucky not to gift Salah a third.
Emerson Royal, 6. A few moments where he provided a first-half outlet with strong runs forward but was lacking in delivery.
Yves Bissouma, 8. Spurs’ best player first half thanks to repeated recovery runs to track Nunez in particular, but also Elliott’s forward runs. Bissouma was the one left to deal with the counters in the second half
Rodrigo Bentancur, 6. Tried to get forward in the right channel as an extra attacker but it’s not really his game. Had a couple of decent moments where he might have netted but saw a header saved and one run ignored.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 7. Combative and involved but not always in entirely helpful areas for his team. Got forward far more in the second half.
Ryan Sessegnon, 7. Gave Alexander-Arnold a few tough moments in the first half with his pace but never found the end pass or cross. After the restart he did provide one really good cut-back to Ivan Perisic and was maybe unlucky to be subbed.
Ivan Perisic, 7. Pressed into action as a forward and almost scored a header but not involved enough first half. Started the second by rattling the bar when he should have scored, then went wing-back where he was always Spurs’ first point of reference for build-up play.
Harry Kane, 8. A few neat moments of link play and crosses from deep, but far from effective overall, especially in the attacking box first half. That all changed after the restart as he stayed higher and his aerial prowess was on show - as was his finishing ability with an unerring strike across the keeper.
Subs: Matt Doherty 7, Dejan Kulusevski 7, Lucas Moura n/a
Liverpool
Alisson Becker, 6. Just about got something on Perisic’s attempt to turn the ball onto the post. More routine stop to deny Dier’s second-half header. Lucky to escape when closed down by Kane.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, 5. Spurs looked to get at him every time and it was mixed for the right-back in the first 45’ terms of defensive successes, but he stuck at it while also playing some very effective crossfield switches. After the break, like many teammates, he offered little on the ball and still not enough defensively.
Ibrahima Konate, 9. Liverpool look far better with him back after injury. Power against big strikers, recovery pace, aerial strength and consistently smart balls into midfield - all facets the Reds have needed on a more regular basis than they’ve seen so far this term in defence.
Virgil van Dijk, 9. Extremely reliable. Nothing fancy or highlight-reel worthy, but made every clearance he needed to and won his personal battles.
Andy Robertson, 6. Delivered the cross in the build-up for the opener but was found wanting too often both in final-third choices and his defending against Spurs’ rotating cast of wing-backs.
Fabinho, 7. A much better showing than in recent games, though still far off his best. Won plenty of important challenges and made clearances around the edge of the Liverpool box, but still looks slow and not sharp when trying to get involved higher in midfield.
Harvey Elliott, 6. A menacing presence throughout the first half with quick turns in possession and a willingness to get through a lot of work off the ball. Really struggled second half with Spurs playing around him - and the rest of the midfield - and needed replacing long before he eventually was.
Thiago Alcantara, 7. The fulcrum of this improved showing from the Reds, with his quick balls into feet, an ability to take players out of the game and his defensive efforts all helping the visitors shine in the first half. After the restart though he was very sloppy on the ball and too often allowed Spurs easy possession with his team under pressure.
Mohamed Salah, 8. Two tremendous finishes from two chances - one instinctive, one which needed a cool head and timing. Could have had a third but snatched at a shot second half. More often used as the counter-attacking outlet after the break.
Roberto Firmino, 5. A loose and ineffective showing for the most part; plenty of running and tracking back when needed but too often his link play was short and he spurned good counter-attacking opportunities.
Darwin Nunez, 7. The brightest spark early on as he tested Lloris and then set up Salah. Faded a little but good work rate playing left wing. Didn’t really impact when he went centre-forward, other than hitting the bar when offside.
Subs: Curtis Jones 6, Jordan Henderson 4, Joe Gomez n/a, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain n/a
