From Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Liverpool held off a late rally to secure a 2-1 win at Tottenham on Sunday.
The Reds took a first-half lead that ultimately proved fatal for Spurs, who have dropped to fourth in the Premier League table.
After Eric Dier raced in behind, Darwin Nunez’s clipped half-volley drew an acrobatic save from Hugo Lloris as the afternoon’s first-half opener fell Liverpool’s way.
The Uruguayan was the busiest player in the early stages, missing again after finding Trent Alexander-Arnold’s crossfield pass, this time firing wide.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for the Reds after 11 minutes, Andy Robertson’s cross was controlled and Nunez pushed the Egyptian, who fired into the bottom corner from about 12 yards.
Tottenham almost equalized twice in the next few minutes after Alisson turned the ball onto the post after Harry Kane’s cross was missed by Evan Perisic, before Pierre-Emile Hodgberg forced the Brazilian into a low save.
The hosts were furious that they were not awarded a penalty when Alexander-Arnold pushed Ryan Sessegnon to the ground – a decision only briefly looked at by VAR.
Liverpool added a second when Eric Dier’s poor header was parried by Salah back at Alvarez, allowing the Spurs captain to double the lead.
The hosts tried to make amends after the break when Dier headed home an early corner, although it was a comfortable save for Alisson.
Dier’s deep cross was then cut out by Sessegnon for Perisek, who rattled the crossbar with his first-time strike.
Sessegnon then fired just wide with his weaker right foot as Spurs’ fast-paced second-half start continued, while Lloris denied Salah from close range at the other end after a quick Liverpool break.
A free-kick from Perisic was flicked on by Harry Kane, before the England captain pulled one back for Tottenham after being slipped by the returning Dejan Klosewski.
Spurs hit Liverpool back and almost got an equalizer through Clement Lenglet, who went just wide from a corner.
They went even closer in the final minute of regulation time when Kane flicked a through ball past Rodrigo Bentanker, with the ball just falling the wrong side of the post.
Liverpool managed to claim a big victory in four minutes of stoppage time in what has been a disappointing season for them so far, closing the gap on the top four to seven points.
GK: Hugo Lloris – 5/10 – Hesitant on a few crosses but made some decent saves.
CB: Eric Dier – 3/10 – His blunder changed the complexion of the game and gave Spurs plenty to do.
CB: Clement Lenglet – 6/10 – Kept Firmino fairly quiet but to no avail.
CB: Ben Davis – 5/10 – Did his best to counter Salah and still the Egyptian scored a brace.
RM: Emerson Royal – 4/10 – Defensively, Deer could have helped out against the Nines, while his distribution left a lot to be desired.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 6/10 – Technically excellent but failed to make an impact in the final third.
CM: Yves Bissouma – 6/10 – Carried out his duties as a deep midfielder well, although he had a lot on his plate.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 4/10 – One of those days where Dean’s touch didn’t stick and his passing was just off.
LM: Ryan Sessegnon – 5/10 – Alexander-Arnold had a few times but should have gotten more out of this matchup.
CF: Harry Kane – 7/10 – Often he tried to do everything, which is understandable given Spurs’ attacking absences, but it meant his action in the penalty area was limited.
CF: Ivan Perisic – 6/10 – Asked to play a more advanced role and was the focal point of most of Spurs’ best attacks.
SUB: Matt Doherty (68′ for Emerson) – 6/10 – Upgrades on Emerson in every department.
SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (68′ for Sessegnon) – 7/10 – An immediate effect that forced Liverpool to change the way they defended.
SUB: Lucas Moura (89′ for Busoma) – N/A
Manager: Antonio Conte – 6/10 – Spurs were ultimately undone by individual errors, although their composition was impressive despite key absences.
GK: Alison – 6/10 – There were a couple of hairy moments but ultimately his shot-stopping saved Liverpool.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – Great on the ball but clearly on his skates.
CB: Ibrahim Konati – 7/10 – Usually defended well on the front foot.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – Played similarly aggressively but stalled noticeably after the introduction of Klosewski.
LB: Andy Robertson – 7/10 – The fact that Emerson was very poor helped. His delivery was generally very good.
DM: Fabinho – 5/10 – Not always focused but it was one of Fabinho’s best performances this season.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 6/10 – A technical wizard, although he was troubled by Spurs’ attacking midfielders.
CM: Thiago – 8/10 – Moved through Spurs’ midfield with ease and faced some crunching challenges.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 9/10 – Back to his ruthless best today, both taking goals extremely well and proving the difference.
CF: Roberto Firmino – 5/10 – Marked out of the game and eventually bowed out.
LW: Darwin Nunez – 7/10 – Caused all sorts of problems down Tottenham’s right.
SUB: Curtis Jones (74′ for Firmino) – 5/10
SUB: Jordan Henderson (74′ for Elliott) – 5/10
SUB: Joe Gomez (87′ for Nunez) – N/A
SUB: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (90′ for Salah) – N/A
Manager: Jurgen Klopp – 5/10 – Liverpool managed to hold off Spurs but it was closer than Klopp might have liked.
Player of the match Mohamed Salah