It could only really happen to Tottenham, who keep finding additional interpretations for Spursy week on week.
They really do bring it on themselves like nobody else does. It is almost like they enjoy it in some sadistic sort of way. Three-nil down inside 15 minutes, staring down the barrel of a gun still smoking from last weekend’s mauling at Newcastle, Tottenham were dead and buried at Anfield, grappling with the top rope to stay on their feet, dazed and totally confused, waiting for the final blow to put them out of their misery.
But not only did the battered visitors get off the Anfield canvass, they dug deep within their soul to put in one of their best performances of the season to do the unthinkable and drag themselves level, former Everton forward Richarlison getting the dramatic late equaliser to instigate pandemonium among those who had stayed in the away end.
These are the Spurs banter years, so that was never going to be that. Straight down the other end, 99 seconds later, from a Spurs error, substitute Diogo Jota somehow found himself through on goal, and you know the rest. Even by their own astronomical high standards, Spurs outdid themselves once more.
Liverpool have scored 41 90th-minute winning goals in the Premier League, at least 11 more than any other side, while Tottenham, of course, have conceded 26 such winners, also a competition-high.
The scenes harked back to that famous night at Anfield in 1997, when Liverpool surrendered a 3-0 lead against title-chasing Newcastle, Stan Collymore closed in, and Kevin Keegan was left draped over the advertising boards. That result enabled Liverpool to go on to finish fourth that season – then only good enough for a UEFA Cup spot.
Twenty-seven years later, and Europe’s secondary competition beckons once more, with a little help from the team who, for opponents of every other club, are the gift that keeps on giving.
There is simply no excuse for top-level footballers, having had days to prepare, watching countless clips of their resurgent opponents, to start any game sluggishly, but Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski, the latter’s form falling off a cliff in recent months, were clearly thinking about their summer jaunts to Dubai as the ponderous pair afforded Curtis Jones the freedom of Anfield to fire home the third minute opener.
With the scars from last week’s lashing at Newcastle still oozing, another nightmare trip north was unfolding before Spurs fans’ eyes.
On his first start for Liverpool since October, Luis Diaz then hammered home the impressive Cody Gakpo’s pullback before Mohamed Salah ensured he did not miss his third successive penalty after converting from the spot with the clock having not even struck 15. Only against Aston Villa in March 1996 have Liverpool been 3-0 up earlier in a Premier League game.
The ever-popular Daniel Levy at this point would have been considering setting up a standing order to issue automatic refunds for away tickets, but a Harry Kane volley before the end of the half ensured the tightest of purse strings remain secured by a Palomar Knot.
It was then Liverpool’s turn to issue a reminder that their own problems are not going away. Tottenham were almost inviting a Newcastle repeat. Instead, the hosts completely took their foot off the gas and coasted in neutral.
Spurs kept coming. The rejuvenated Son Heung-min hit the post, with Cristian Romero striking the same upright seconds later. They couldn’t, could they?
Son’s fourth goal in his last five games, proving he is well and truly over his 2022-23 yips, got Spurs to within one, before Richarlison thought he had written a fitting final line to as exhilarating a story as has unfolded in the Premier League this term, celebrated like somehow who still holds the blue half of Merseyside close to his heart.
But the Brazilian was forgetting who his current employers are. On his last appearance for Spurs at the start of April, Lucas Moura was sent off six minutes after coming off the bench. At Anfield, he went one better, supplying a pass Kevin De Bruyne would have been proud of for Jota to settle the pulsating, downright bizarre contest.
“It is just hard to think of any positives,” said Ryan Mason, who is interim head coach for the time being. “We know with the ball we are an exceptional team, we can score goals and hurt anyone, but you don’t just win games just with the ball and when you literally give the opposition four goals without having to earn it, it makes it very difficult.
“It is hard to put into words right now.”
Spursy is one, for starters. Jurgen Klopp pulled his hamstring celebrating the winner, but the psychological damage to Spurs will be far more severe. Or perhaps they are used to it by now.
“How he looks at me, I don’t understand it. In England nobody has to clarify these situations, it’s really tricky and hard to understand. My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not ok.”
Spurs’ dejected boss Mason was also not happy with the officials, insisting the match winner avoided what he felt was a red card offence for a high boot on Oliver Skipp.
“I would like an explanation and a reason why it wasn’t,” he said. “It was an instant red card because when your foot is studs showing and you’re five and a half feet off the ground and make contact with a player’s head and draw blood, and there is a gash, I think it ticks all the boxes.
“It’s decided the game because that player on the pitch shouldn’t have been on there at the end decided the game. I’m pretty sure most football people’s opinions will probably feel the same.”
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/8wz36Xs
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