Record-breaking centre-forward Alexander Isak came on to put his team ahead and then Huge Ekitike scored a proper centre-forward’s header to secure victory for Liverpool against Tottenham Hotspur.
But this was far from a straightforward three points for Arne Slot’s side.
Hosts Tottenham saw Xavi Simons sent off in the 33rd minute after a VAR review for a challenge on Virgil van Dijk and Cristian Romero followed suit after receiving a second yellow card in stoppage time to leave the hosts with nine men.
Isak came off the bench at half-time and put Liverpool in front 11 minutes later, only to suffer an injury and leave the pitch. Ekitike made it 2-0 but then Richarlison came off the bench to pull one back for Tottenham, profiting from a scramble in the penalty box after Van Dijk failed to clear the ball.
An underwhelming first half was followed by a frantic second 45 minutes in north London. Andy Jones, Jay Harris and Elias Burke take a breath and discuss the key talking points…
What did this result mean for Liverpool?
This victory extended Liverpool’s unbeaten run to six games in all competitions and was another step in the right direction.
Slot has said he has felt there has been progress in performances in recent weeks and, while they were helped by the two red cards, Liverpool were professional and controlled the game — until Richarlison came on and caused chaos, at least. Then, the same familiar defensive frailties came back in abundance.
While Liverpool may be about to receive some bad news about Isak after he went off injured, the good news is they still have Ekitike.
The 23-year-old had scored four goals in his previous two Premier League starts, and he made it five in three with a thumping header to double the away side’s advantage.
What has been so impressive about the France international is his range of attributes. He can drop deep and link play, he can run the channels and carry the ball, and when he is in the box he is such a threat and can score a variety of goals.
His latest goal was classic big centre-forward play. He bullied Romero and towered above him to direct Jeremie Frimpong’s cross into the top corner. There was only one player getting to that ball.
Stability has been restored — even with a few nervy moments late on after Richarlison got a goal back and then ran at Liverpool again — and the three points moved Liverpool to level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea.
After Dominik Szoboszlai picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, the midfielder is suspended for their next match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on December 27.
The league title looks beyond reach for the reigning champions this season, but retaining their Champions League place was crucial and that looks a lot more likely than it did only a few weeks ago.
Andy Jones
Did Xavi Simons deserve a red card?
In a first half that lacked cutting edge in the final third from both sides, Tottenham were going well and looking fairly comfortable.
Thomas Frank’s team effectively pressed Liverpool’s defence with intensity and coordination, slowing their attempts to build out from the back with pace. But with Van Dijk on the ball in his half, Simons — who has a tendency to arrive into tackles late — took it a touch too far.
After Van Dijk had released the ball back to Alisson in the Liverpool net, Simons left his left leg out, scraping his foot down the back of the Liverpool defender’s calf. Referee John Brooks initially awarded Liverpool a free-kick and gave Simons a yellow card, but after it was referred to the VAR and the referee had an opportunity to watch a slow-motion replay, his final decision was barely in question.
Brooks showed a protesting Simons his first red card for Spurs, reducing the home side to 10 men. Before leaving the field, Simons was embraced by his international captain, Van Dijk.
Following the game, Simons apologised on Instagram, saying: “Mistakes happen. Virg is my captain, I would never intentionally hurt him or anyone. To my Spurs team-mates, my manager and the fans, I take responsibility, I’m really sorry.”
On the pitch, Frank responded by keeping the system largely the same, with striker Randal Kolo Muani dropping back into the No 10 role and connecting the midfield and attack.
Elias Burke
Where does this result leave Thomas Frank?
Tottenham’s performance in the first 30 minutes against Liverpool was encouraging. Apart from their 2-0 victory against Manchester City in August, they produced their best spell of football against a top Premier League side this season.
There has been a lot of frustration from the fans about their home form but Simons’ dismissal and Romero’s late moment of madness will protect Frank from a lot of criticism — all of the boos at half-time appeared to be directed at the referee.
Frank resisted taking off a forward for an extra defender after 45 minutes and the team morphed into a 4-4-1 system. It took Liverpool nearly half an hour to break Tottenham’s resistance with an extra man and it came from Romero making a sloppy pass, but they did not collapse.
Kolo Muani’s strike deflected off Milos Kerkez onto the bar at 1-0. The fans started chanting and singing in response. It was a rare occasion when the entire stadium felt connected, even if they were only united by their anger towards the officials.
Frank refused to give up after Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead. He brought on Richarlison, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert. Richarlison scored and then had a great chance to equalise, but was squeezed off the ball by Ibrahima Konate and Van Dijk.
This was a valiant defeat instead of the brutal mauling many people were expecting. Spurs showed enough fight and resilience for a little bit of faith to be restored in Frank.
Romero took it to an extreme by getting himself sent off in stoppage time, but he was applauded by some of the supporters. Even with nine men, Spurs still tried to equalise and the fans will take pride in that.
Jay Harris
A big moment in Isak’s Liverpool career?
When Liverpool have been chasing a goal in games this season, their head coach has come in for criticism on occasion for his use of the bench.
Slot never wants to leave an attacking stone unturned and has a tendency to bring on more attacking players while sacrificing team shape. It has had limited success, and even when it did, Liverpool were then vulnerable to conceding.
With Tottenham down to 10 men, this was a different scenario to navigate and Slot wasted little time in tweaking his approach. The set-up in recent weeks has focused on control and stability, but his introduction of striker Isak for right-back Conor Bradley at half-time added an extra forward.
Liverpool had been pedestrian going forward in the first half. With the exception of a handful of bright Florian Wirtz moments, they were too slow and lacked quality around the Tottenham penalty area.
Little changed in the opening 10 minutes of the second half but, when the ball deflected into the path of Isak, he and his fellow two attacking summer signings burst into life.
Isak fed Ekitike who shifted the ball to Wirtz. He slipped a ball into the path of Isak, who fired home.
Liverpool had the lead and, although Isak was taken off after colliding with Micky van de Ven while shooting, Slot had got the impact he needed from his record-breaking signing.
The hope is the Sweden international’s injury is not serious, because this felt like a big moment in his Liverpool career.
Andy Jones
How did Djed Spence react after his conduct against Nottingham Forest?
There was a lot of attention on Djed Spence before this game after his negative reaction to being substituted in last weekend’s 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest. It was the second public display of dissent from the England international this season after he ignored Frank, along with Van de Ven, at full-time in November’s 1-0 defeat by Chelsea. Spence’s place in the starting XI was secure because Destiny Udogie is recovering from a muscle injury.
Spence responded by producing his best performance of the season. The 25-year-old was Tottenham’s most consistent attacking threat and he defended superbly. Before Simons’ dismissal, Spence had a crucial role to play. Lucas Bergvall started on the left but he moved into central positions, which meant Spence needed to provide an option on the overlap.
In the 19th minute, he went on a marauding run which started in his own half and he tried to shimmy past Bradley in the box. Liverpool’s full-back went down and the referee awarded a soft free-kick. There was another similar occasion where he dragged Spurs up the pitch and nearly slipped in between Bradley and Curtis Jones.
Spurs’ best chance in the first half came from Spence attacking the back post and nodding Pedro Porro’s cross towards Kolo Muani. After Spurs were reduced to 10 men, Spence continued to push forward and handle his defensive duties. He barged Ekitike off the ball when the striker tried to run through for a one-vs-one with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Substitute Frimpong set-up Ekitike’s goal by running past Spence but Tottenham’s full-back did the right thing by forcing his opponent onto his weaker left foot. It was a bad result overall for Spurs, but Frank should be happy with Spence’s reaction.
Jay Harris
What did Slot say?
Asked about Isak’s injury in his post-match press conference, the Liverpool head coach said: “I don’t have any news on him but if a player scores, gets injured and doesn’t come back on the pitch or doesn’t try to come back, which Conor Bradley, for example did but I had to take him off and couldn’t come on.
“But if a player doesn’t try to come back it is usually not a good thing but I cannot say anything more than that. That is just a gut feeling and nothing more than that, nothing medical to say about it.”
“I haven’t spoken to him about it yet but it’s a good thing he scored, a good goal assisted by Florian Wirtz. I said players are getting better, the team is getting better. It wasn’t perfect today, especially the last 10 minutes but we pick up points and are developing in a way I want to see.”
On Wirtz and Isak combining for the opening goal, Slot added: “That’s what we’d like to see happening a lot. A good finish, a good pass. Let’s not be too negative yet. We don’t know yet, let’s hope he is back with us soon but it is difficult to say to you.”
What did Frank say?
Asked about Simons’ red card, Frank said in his post-match press conference: “I don’t like this as a red card. I think the game is, probably too big to say gone, but for me it’s not reckless and it’s not exceptional force. He is chasing Van Dijk. He is trying to put pressure and then he changes direction. Unfortunately his foot is on (Van Dijk’s) Achilles. You can say ‘Ah, you need to be smarter, don’t do it and all that’ but so are we not allowed to have physical contact anymore? The next thing on that is if he gets three games, which I don’t understand, how can he get three games for something which is not reckless? That is absolutely wrong and we probably can’t appeal it.”
On Ekitike’s goal, he added: “I think the second goal is a mistake from the ref. I think there are two hands in the back. Clear two hands in the back. I don’t understand how you can do that. Everywhere else you have seen that a thousand times out there on the pitch, someone will go up for a header, a goalkick into the centre-back, two hands in the back ‘boom’ foul. But apparently not in the penalty box. I think that was the biggest mistake in my opinion and from VAR but apparently that was not enough. We kept going.“
“I think overall it was a good performance tonight. Proud of the players and the team and how they responded. I actually think the first 30 (minutes) was also good from us and how we responded to setbacks through the game.
“There was great personality and character in the team.”
What next for Spurs?
Sunday, December 28: Crystal Palace (Away), Premier League, 4.30pm UK, 11.30am ET
What next for Liverpool?