Premier League: Liverpool beat Tottenham 3-1 to revive faltering title defence

Image Source : GETTY IMAGES Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane netted as Liverpool ended a five-game winless run in a league it dominated so resoundingly final season.
Roberto Firmino ended Liverpool’s 483-minute purpose drought within the Premier League to set the champions on their strategy to a 3-1 win over Tottenham on Thursday and revive their faltering title protection.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane additionally netted as Liverpool ended a five-game winless run in a league it dominated so resoundingly final season.

“We were really up for the game, everyone was at it,” Alexander-Arnold mentioned. “No one put an excessive amount of of a foot flawed and it was an unbelievable efficiency from the lads.”
The victory, which lifts Liverpool into fourth place, began with VAR ruling out an opener for Tottenham when Son Heung-min was adjudged to be offside.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg diminished the deficit to 2-1 with a robust strike shortly after Alexander-Arnold scored initially of the second half, however the Liverpool proper again arrange Mane for the third that sealed the win.
While Liverpool moved inside 4 factors of chief Manchester City, Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham is eight factors adrift in sixth after its first defeat in 2021, albeit with a recreation in hand.
And Mourinho faces an anxious wait to find the extent of Harry Kane’s damage after the striker twice went down within the first half clutching his left ankle earlier than being changed on the interval.
“He is injured in each ankles,” Mourinho said. “He mentioned to compete with one ache he in all probability may, however each — it was very painful and really sore and he couldn’t. He simply couldn’t.
“He is a guy with a good sacrifice spirit, he can fight against pain, but it was difficult for him.”
There are issues on the again too for the north London membership, which is at risk of failing to qualify for the Champions League for a second consecutive season after reaching the ultimate in 2019 — shedding to Liverpool.

Liverpool was compelled to play midfielder Jordan Henderson at middle again resulting from accidents and in addition misplaced Joel Matip at halftime with ankle ligament harm.
But it was Tottenham’s again three trying extra fragile,
“We were punished by our individual mistakes,” Mourinho mentioned. “It’s nothing new for us.”
How completely different, although, this recreation may need gone had Son not been marginally offside when he was launched by Kane earlier than scoring.
Liverpool was extra threatening going ahead after that, with Mane testing Hugo Lloris with tame pictures earlier than organising the opener within the fourth minute of stoppage time on the finish of the primary half. Firmino tapped in after Mane handed throughout the face of purpose, scoring Liverpool’s first league purpose since Dec. 27.
It was clear from Mourinho’s post-match feedback that it was a tense environment within the dressing room at halftime.
“It is the mood of a team that is difficult to accept that you are losing,” Mourinho mentioned. “It’s a mood where people are not happy. But then we have to move on.”
But Liverpool doubled its lead two minutes into the second half when Lloris spilled Mane’s shot into the trail of Alexander-Arnold.
Tottenham threatened a direct comeback when Højbjerg powered in a shot from outdoors the world.
There was one other break for Tottenham when Mohamed Salah’s purpose was dominated out as a result of Firmino was adjudged to have dealt with within the buildup regardless of Eric Dier grappling the Brazilian.
But Liverpool restored its two-goal cushion within the sixty fifth when Alexander-Arnold’s lengthy cross got here off Joe Rodon and fell for Mane to strike into the roof of the online.