Spurs end the Liverpool curse
Written By: Robert Halter
Tottenham Hotspur aimed for their first win against Liverpool after nine Premier League encounters and they were up and running in the fourth minute when from Kieran Trippier’s throw in, Heung Min-Son had his pass deflected off Alberto Moreno into Christian Eriksen, before Son combined with Trippier, whose over the top delivery found Harry Kane, who exploited a miss kick from the Reds keeper, Simon Mignolet, before finding a way into the middle of the goal. But after James Milner’s in swinging cross was caught by Hugo Lloris, his quick throw to Kane, broke the Reds defence again, as Kane raced down the right, before finding Son, who drilled a left footed shot into the left hand corner, in the twelfth minute. The Reds had been caught cold, as Moreno’s cross, went over the upright. In the sixteenth minute, Eriksen’s ball over the top was matched with a cracking strike by Son, that rattled against the underside of the crossbar. But on twenty four minutes, after Kane was caught in possession by Philippe Coutinho, the Reds captain, Jordan Henderson, cleared the way for Mohamed Salah, whose low drive on the right, cannoned off the left post, into the bottom corner. Four minutes later, from Coutinho’s cross, an unmarked Salah, put his cushioned header into the reaches of Lloris. But within sixty seconds, a sublime pass by Dele Alli, set Son free but he rolled his strike into the feet of Mignolet. On the half hour mark, Alli’s high rising delivery found Kane but he was snuffed out by Dejan Lovren, who was then replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Reds pressed again with a threaded pass by Coutinho, and a low cross from Salah on the right was smothered by Lloris. On thirty seven minutes, Kane turned the Liverpool defenders like a six pence, but his low strike squeezed out wide to the left. In the next two minutes, a cross by Milner was cleared behind by Trippier to keep out Roberto Firmino, in the danger zone. Emre Can got the first caution for pulling down the advancing Alli, and from Eriksen’s free kick, a miss placed header by Joel Matip, fell to Alli, who fired the ball into the bottom left corner, for a 3-1 Spurs lead on the stroke of half time. Liverpool looked for a quick response in the second half, when from Can’s assist, a delivery by Salah, was punched clear by Lloris, with a flying dive forward. In the fiftieth minute, Serge Aurier’s punt forward was deflected onto the outside roof of the net by Can, and from Trippier’s corner, a header by Kane, went wide of the target. But Spurs found a fourth in the fifty sixth minute, after Kane was appended by Matip, and from Trippier’s free kick, a flapping Mignolet pushed the ball out to Jan Vertonghen, whose shot was cleared off the line by Firmino, and Kane was jolly on the spot, to tuck the ball away. In the sixty third minute, from Trippier’s corner, a poor header out by Matip, went to Eriksen, who blazed his strike over the bar. Two minutes later from a Moreno assist, the ball was turned wide of the right target area by Oxlade-Chamberlain. But in the sixty seventh minute, a sloppy defensive header from Vertonghen, fell to Salah, whose ball to Coutinho, was met with a fierce strike that with an overlapping hand, Lloris pushed onto the left woodwork. Then from a Milner assist, a low drive by Moreno was latched upon by Lloris, before Spurs took off Son for Moussa Sissoko. In the seventy second minute, after Milner interlinked with Salah, the outstretched feet of Lloris stopped Milner’s close range effort. After collecting a pass from Joseph Gomez, on the turn, Coutinho produced a curling strike which was caught by Lloris. Liverpool then switched Firmino for Daniel Sturridge. On seventy eight minutes, Oxlade-Chamberlain left Aurier in his wake, and his pull back to Salah, was fended away by the boot of Lloris. Spurs then took off Eriksen for Eric Dier before the Reds replaced Can with Marko Grujic. When Kane pulled up injured, Fernando Llorente took over, but it was Tottenham Hotspur’s afternoon with a first win in five years over Liverpool with a convincing 4-1 victory.