Ten-man Liverpool held on to scrape a 2-2 draw at Tottenham in an instant Christmas classic as VAR had its say in the last Premier League fixture potentially for some time.
The league will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the possibility of a circuit breaker to fixtures as teams suffer a deluge of cases that caused the cancellation of six games this weekend.
Harry Kane put Spurs in front with only his second league goal of the season before Diogo Jota equalised 10 minutes before the break.
Andrew Robertson put Liverpool in front with a smart stooping header as Spurs protested about not being given a penalty at the other end – but five minutes later Son Heung-min slipped past goalkeeper Allison to level things up.
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp – who was booked during the encounter – may question that decision, seeing as Kane himself was lucky his first-half, studs-ups challenge on Robertson wasn’t event checked by the video assistant.
Player ratings
Tottenham
- Hugo Lloris – 7
- Davison Sanchez – 7.5
- Eric Dier – 6.5
- Ben Davies – 6
- Emerson Royal – 6
- Tanguy Ndombele – 8
- Harry Winks – 6.5
- Ryan Sessegnon – 6
- Dele Alli – 6
- Harry Kane – 8.5
- Son Heung-min – 8
Subs
- Oliver Skipp – 6
- Lucas Moura – 6
- Sergio Reguilon – 6.5
Liverpool
- Alisson Becker – 8
- Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6
- Joel Matip – 6.5
- Ibrahim Konate – 7
- Andy Robertson – 7.5
- Tyler Morton – 6
- Naby Keita – 6
- James Milner – 5.5
- Mo Salah – 6
- Diogo Jota – 8
- Sadio Mane – 7
Subs
- Roberto Firmino – 6
- Kostas Tsimikas – 6
Analysis: Spurs playing in typical Conte fashion
By Sam Cunningham, chief football correspondent
Spurs suddenly look good again under Antonio Conte, and there’s something about the Italian that’s infectious. OK, that’s probably not the choicest of adjectives to use right now, but you get the point.
You can feel it in the stadium: his fury from the touchline, his energy, his enthusiasm, his tantrums, his arm waving and head holding, seeping into the stands, driving on the players, getting everyone believing once more.
Harry Kane ended his Premier League scoring drought then almost ended Andy Robertson’s season in six minutes of football that summed up Conte’s impact.
A pure striker’s finish, tucking the ball into the bottom left corner under pressure, for his first goal at home in eight matches, then a wildly overenthusiastic sliding tackle that arguably deserved a red card and had Robertson not jumped could have had far worse consequences.
For the first time in a long time there are glimpses of the Spurs who reached a Champions League final and challenged for Premier League titles through sheer passion and excitement and good football. They have a not dissimilar set of players who appear like themselves again, rather than browbeaten and brittle.
Was Kane let off?
Kane was perhaps lucky the VAR opted not to review his challenge on Robertson. The striker, flushed with the enthusiasm of scoring only his second league goal of the season, came steaming towards the Scotland full-back and placed a number of studs clean on his shin pad.
Had Robertson not jumped, his standing leg could have been planted in the turf as Kane stormed through.
Asked if he was worried about being dismissed, Kane said: “No. At the time I thought it was a good strong tackle. Maybe it looks a little worse when you slow it down. That’s what VAR is there for.
“There are going to be strong tackles in a game like this. I wasn’t worried. I was quite surprised [to be booked] to be honest.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Klopp was of the opinion that the England captain should have walked, and that VAR should have checked a possible foul on Diogo Jota in the Spurs box.
“Yes definitely,” said Klopp. “You can give Robbo a red card. It is not the smartest challenge but that is definitely a red card. No doubt about it. His leg was in the air, it was pure coincidence. Harry cannot judge it. If Robbo’s leg is on the ground it is a broken leg.
“We have a VAR sitting there and he thinks ‘have a look again at Robertson again’. Fine, that’s what he is there for. But what did he do in that situation? And then there is the penalty situation with Diogo Jota.
“Mr Tierney told me Diogo stops on purpose because he wants the foul. First and foremost if you want to shoot you have to stop because you cannot do both.”
Conte delighted with 8 x 8 in attack
As for the game itself, few would argue it wasn’t the type of thriller that Premier League broadcasters pay millions of pounds to showcase on a Sunday evening.
And Spurs boss Antonio Conte was delighted that his team’s attacking intent paid off against the Reds.
“I think to take one point against Liverpool is good,” said Conte. “We’re talking about one of the best teams in the world. They’ve created something special for all these years.
“To play against Liverpool is not easy. You have to be prepared to suffer.
“They want to attack with eight players. We prepared our game to face eight against eight and to attack the space.
“We created many chances. In the second half there was more balance [and it was] an exciting game for the fans. A good point but if we want to improve our mentality we have to start to think we should be disappointed to only get one point.”
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