Liverpool survive nine men Spurs in scrappy win: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool
By Mohamed Zouak
A sigh and a gasp of red mist of relief as Liverpool held on to defeat Tottenham Hotspur in North London to move to fifth in the Premier League after a chaotic and calamitous second-half.
In the first half there was no real creativity, free-flowing football or momentum with both teams in possession which slowed the rhythm of the game while giving the ball away was a common theme.
The first eventful moment of the game came from Tottenham being forced to play with ten men after a reckless foul by Xavi Simons on his Dutch counterpart and Liverpool skipper Virgil Van Dijk which caused referee John Brooks to overturn his initial yellow card decision through VAR.
Liverpool best chance of the half came in the 36th minute with Florian Wirtz’s low shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. However, Spurs best chance of the game came from Randall Kolo Muani’s whose headed effort was easy for Alisson Becker to collect.
It was a disappointing firs half with the Reds managing four shots on goal with half of them on target compared to the host’s five shots.
The second half got underway with Isak coming on for Bradley with Dominik Szoboszlai dropping into the right flank, increasing the Reds’ attacking options.
This proved to be effective in the 55th minute when Isak tucked away a beautifully disguised pass by Florian Wirtz to score his second league goal. This beautiful moment was sadly taken away when the Swede remained down, visibly in agony and inevitably carried off to be replaced by Frimpong.
Tottenham’s best chance of the second half came in the 64th minute when Kolo Muani’s searing run deflected off Milos Kerkez’s leg and bounced onto the crossbar.
Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead after Frimpong dribbled past Djed Spence to deliver a cross to Ekitike and the Frenchman was too strong for Spurs skipper Christian Romero, catching the inside of the post.
The next 20 minutes was dominated by desperation and despair that reflected their high-flying challenges and Liverpool attempting to defend their lead.
The Reds defence seemed to break loose in the 83rd minute when Richarlison restored the deficit to one after a combined mis-kick by Ibrahima Konate and Van Dijk allowed him to tuck the ball into the bottom corner.
Tottenham nearly profited from a careless mistake by Jones that initiated Richarlison on the counter who attempted a shot on goal but was blocked by Konate.
The hosts' torment grew even larger when their skipper was shown his second yellow card after lashing out at Konate due to a foul as they spent the last seven minutes of injury time with nine men.
Liverpool somehow survived their lead despite being very wasteful in the final-third as they often attempted to win fouls to control the rest of the game.
Liverpool’s victory moved them to fifth in the Premier tied with Chelsea on 29 points and four behind Aston Villa as they prepare for their final game of the year against bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield as they attempt to sign off 2025 on a high note after a largely disappointing start to the season.