Liverpool got their first win away from home in the Premier League this season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last night as they held onto a 2-1 lead to beat Spurs, thanks to Mohammed Salah’s fifth and sixth league goals.
Embed from Getty ImagesLiverpool took an 11th minute lead when Salah controlled brilliantly from Darwin Nunez’s pass and fired a shot into the bottom corner. They then doubled their lead as Eric Dier attempted to head the ball back to his goalkeeper, which was miss timed and Salah managed to get control and chip the ball over Hugo Lloris.
Tottenham started the second half brightly, and with 20 minutes to go, Harry Kane got his 11th league goal this season as he curled the ball away from Alisson Becker into the bottom corner. Spurs created numerous chances in the second half but could not get that equaliser they arguably deserved.
Here are my Tottenham player ratings for last nights game.
Hugo Lloris – 6 – Had little to do apart from a couple of soft shots into his path. Nearly cost Spurs with a kick that Roberto Firmino blocked.
Eric Dier – 5 – Gave away the second goal with a stupid attempted header back to his keeper which even if he connected right Mohammed Salah would have gotten on the end of. Overall game in the second half was impressive with some nice diagonal passes and crosses into the box.
Embed from Getty ImagesClement Lenglet – 7 – Defended well in the middle of the back three once again and looked tidy on the ball.
Ben Davies – 6 – Not Davies best game for Spurs, with a few small errors and not really having much impact on the game.
Emerson Royal – 4 – A cross that flew out of play summed up his performance today. Extremely poor going forward once again, however defended ok. Was taken off and Spurs scored instantly after, so make of that what you will.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 7 – Had a strong showing in the second half, dictating the play for Tottenham and beating players left right and centre.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6 – Perhaps a quieter game for Hojbjerg, with not much of the game going through his side, quite and unmemorable game for the Dane.
Yves Bissouma – 7 – A second strong performance in as many games for Bissouma, who looks to be settling into this Tottenham side. Broke up play well in the midfield and gave Hojbjerg and Bentancur the freedom to attack.
Ryan Sessegnon – 5 – Struggled to get going in the game, with his most memorable action being when he got in behind the Liverpool defence and Trent Alexander Arnold pushed him down, but no penalty was given; possibly the biggest talking point of the game on social media.
Harry Kane – 8 – Scored a fantastic goal which got Tottenham back into the game and caused Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk many problems all game, mostly in the second half. Also came close with a header which went just past the post.
Embed from Getty ImagesIvan Perisic – 7 – Starting in an unnatural position at striker, Perisic put in a shift and worked hard across the front line. He came so close to scoring, hitting the post and the bar. When being moved into his left wing back role he became a constant threat with crosses, however his set piece delivery was possibly not at his best.
Subs:
Matt Doherty (on 68th minute) – 7 – Came on and done everything Emerson could not do. Offered a constant threat in the box and linked up well with Dejan Kulusevski on the right hand side.
Dejan Kulusevski (on 68th minute) – 8 – Within a minute of coming onto the pitch, he played though Kane and Spurs scored. Liverpool could not stop him from bringing the ball onto his left and getting crosses into the box. Tottenham fans will be extremely happy to see him back on the pitch after a period out through injury.
Lucas Moura (on 88th minute) – N/A – Was not on the pitch for long enough to receive a rating; did get kicked in the head by Thiago Alcantara.
Manager:
Antonio Conte – 6 – Another game where his side were poor in the first half, very defensive, but then through everything a the opposition in the second half, but unlike the last two games, against a better side Spurs could not turn the result around. The decision to start Perisic up top was a questionable one, and maybe should have started Kulusevski from the start, as it was clear to see the team got better as soon as he came on.
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