Moments after the final whistle of Tottenham’s 2-1 heartbreaking defeat to Liverpool at Anfield tonight, the cameras panned to the ritualistic handshakes between Jose Mourinho and Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp. It initially appeared to be a civil exchange, but clearly Mourinho had said something inciteful, which caused Klopp to look at him with a toothy grin of disbelief.
After the match, it was revealed that Mourinho had told Klopp that “the better team had lost.”
Although the run of play, the possession dominance (76% v 24%) and shots on target count (11 v 2) all favoured Liverpool in the end, from a Spurs perspective, it felt hard-done by not coming out of that match with at least a draw, if not with complete victory.
It was clear to anyone that had watched Tottenham this season, that Mourinho would set Spurs up in this defensive, low-block posture, trying to wait for Liverpool to lose possession, and then marching up the pitch with explosive and clinical counterattacks. It was entirely expected that Liverpool would win the bulk of possession, take the majority of shots (most of which being low percentage in nature), and the match played out almost exactly to Mourinho’s best laid plans.
For much of the first half, Liverpool comfortably hemmed Spurs in their own end. Spurs’ back line was under significant pressure, and failed to provide any service to either Son Heung-min or Harry Kane in the few flits of possession. After a series of grazing Liverpool shots which were comfortably stopped by Hugo Lloris, in the 26th minute, it was Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who pounced on an errant clearance at the edge of the box, and took a dangerous shot which took a slight deflection off Toby Alderweireld, and floated over a frozen Lloris. The Kop celebrated in delight. Advantage Liverpool.
In the brief moments Spurs did win the ball after the Salah goal, Liverpool harangued Spurs’ backline with its usual ferocity. On one occasion, Serge Aurier was guilty of giving the ball straight back to Mané, to recycle a sequence of possession for the Reds, and Trent Alexander-Arnold had his way, with an audacious nutmeg of Son. Everything seemed to be going well for the defending champions, and the Anfield crowd, all kept in the Kop end, were in their usual rapturous delight.
Spurs were able to release some of the fizz from the can in the 33rd minute. The equalizer came from a goal kick, that was quickly taken, and retrieved by Giovani Lo Celso in midfield. Lo Celso played an excellent through ball to Son on the left flank, and he exploded past Liverpool’s back line and hit a tidy right foot past the on-rushing Liverpool keeper, Alisson Becker. It was a textbook example of ” route one football,” and in a match where Spurs simply could not hold onto the ball, it was a brilliant goal that brought them back into the game.
While the first half was decidedly one sided, and Spurs managed only two counter attacking opportunities, where Spurs feel hard done by the end result, is that in the second half, they missed a series of high quality scoring opportunities. Of note, straight after the restart, Alderweireld launched Bergwijn on an attack down the left flank. On another day, Bergwijn would have finished, but sadly today, he fired well wide of goal. The look of regret was painted on his face, as if he sensed that such a glorious opportunity would not come again against such a high quality opponent.
As Spurs continued to valiantly defend, Bergwijn did indeed get another opportunity to score. This time, in the 63rd minute, Kane headed a goal kick onto Son, who flicked onto Bergwijn. With time, space, and his head up, Bergwijn hit a shot which incredibly went off the far post. That should have put Spurs up. While that was easily the best chance to go ahead, the next best chance came seconds later, when a Spurs’ corner found its way onto the head of an unmarked Harry Kane. Rather than hit it convincingly, it glanced off Kane’s head, took a heavy bounce on the grass, before being calmly collected by Alisson. Back to back chances, gone in an instant, nothing in hand.
Liverpool continued to turn the screw, ratcheting up the pressure, but Spurs generally coped with this tension well. The front three of Liverpool of Mané, Firmino and Salah were frenetic in their movement and danger. Most impressive of the three was the Senegalese Mané, who had a catalogue of turns, flicks and shots, but who was largely contained by his Ivorian rival, Serge Aurier.
Kane, who had missed his golden opportunity minutes earlier, like Bergwijn had a chance at redemption. He brought down an Alderweireld ball in the 79th minute, and even with seemingly endless time and space, he seemed to hesitate (possibly because he may have brought down the ball with his arm, or possibly because he could not believe the fortune that allowed him to be in such a wide open position, without being offside), and mishit the ball. Once again, for the fourth time in a half-hour, chance gone.
Spurs genuinely had a constellation of incredible opportunities, all flubbed, and so in the 90th minute when Firmino was first to the ball on an Andy Robertson corner, and placed a well timed and placed header past Lloris, it all felt slightly heartbreaking and unfair. They defended generally well, Aurier, Ben Davies, Dier and Alderweireld had been brave and overall, solid. Hojbjerg and Sissoko were exemplary in their reinforcement. All the attacking players made commendable defensive contributions. Yet, Liverpool took their chances, while Spurs misfired on theirs.
Mourinho’s quip to Klopp, that “the better team had lost” may seem petulant, and out of touch with reality to observers that looked at the box score, and saw the one sided possession and shot totals. Yet, for nearly the entire second half, Spurs had the growing belief that they could indeed eek this match out, and create a gap at the top of the table. The 90th minute winner popped that bubble.
To walk away from Anfield with a point would have been acceptable. For Spurs to leave with nothing from that brave match, to lose their place at the top of the Premier League table, it all feels slightly empty.
Jaideep Kanungo
Jaikan Sport 