Tottenham suffered a disappointing defeat at Anfield as Sadio Mané scored a scorching brace in two first-half minutes.
It was an extremely nervy opening to the match. Liverpool swarmed Hugo Lloris and the backline, jumping on every sloppy touch and loose pass.
They made the pressure pay after 15 minutes. Mané raced onto a through ball, leaving Ben Davies in his dust before finishing confidently past Lloris.
It immediately got worse for Spurs. Dier was caught in possession, leading to a quick snap shot for Lallana. Lloris stopped two efforts, but the second rebound fell to Mané who lashed home past two helpless defenders.
The Senegalese star could have easily completed a first-half hat-trick but for two incredible saves from Lloris.
Spurs had few sights of goal and couldn’t take advantage when they did. Son missed a golden opportunity to pull one back, firing straight at Mignolet when through on goal.
The first half was extremely not good. The second was less bad as Spurs managed to gain a foothold after the break. Still, they struggled to create any real chances.
Kane stabbed a free-kick off the post, but was rightly flagged offside, and that was about it. The rest of the game was extremely stop-and-start with lots of dumb, niggly fouls and disappointing cameos for Moussa Sissoko and Vincent Janssen. Tottenham finished with just two shots on target.
Spurs play three cup games — two in the Europa League against Genk, one in the FA Cup away to Fulham — before their next league match. They host Stoke on Sunday February 26.
Reaction
- That Liverpool press is no joke.
- Imagine a world in which Spurs signed Mané instead of Sissoko. Or actually don’t, it will make you very sad.
- Danny Rose can’t come back soon enough.
- Ditto for Lamela. Looking at the bench down 2-0 and the best attacking option being Sissoko was... disheartening.
- This was match was just the right amount of chippy for Lamela. There is a not insignificant chance he would have broken someone’s leg had he played.
- Spurs have now scored just one goal in their last three Premier League games — that was a Kane penalty against Middlesbrough.
- Liverpool had eight shots on target in the first half. As always, Hugo is a saint.
First-half xG map for Liverpool - Tottenham.
— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) February 11, 2017
<curls up in little ball, weeps quietly> pic.twitter.com/Z3Dy3sZZdC