After a truly bizarre fourth-quarter comeback victory over Tottenham, Liverpool moved up to fifth place and assumed the title of top Champions League football challengers.
After another disastrous start from Spurs, who were down 3-0 after 15 minutes thanks to goals from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz, and Mohamed Salah, history began to repeat itself a week after they gave up five goals in the first 21 minutes against Newcastle.
It said as much about the home team’s sloppiness when cruising as it did about Tottenham’s abilities to recover, which had earned them a come-from-behind draw against Manchester United on Thursday, that the visitors got back on level terms through Harry Kane – equaling Wayne Rooney’s 208 Premier League total – Son Heung-min, and Richarlison, in added time.
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However, there was one more twist: immediately after Richarlison’s equalizer, Diogo Jota scored his fifth goal in four games to snatch the win and keep his team in the top four spots, albeit as an outsider, despite having played one more match than Manchester United.
Although Ryan Mason, the new interim manager of Tottenham after Cristian Stellini was fired, was in charge and a different formation was used, the same issues still existed, including a lack of focus and understanding of the task at hand that left the visitors wide open in the opening stages.
Even without the help he was given by a lack of pressure on him, Trent Alexander-Arnold can open up most teams while playing in his new hybrid right-back midfield position.
Jones scored his first goal since September 2021 off of Alexander-Arnold’s cross to the far post, becoming the first player in Premier League history to record two assists in back-to-back games (five games).
After leaving the 24-year-old out of his previous team, his recent performance in his new position will have had England boss Gareth Southgate thinking whether he can afford to adopt it himself.
Two minutes later, Diaz, who was making his first start since October, demonstrated more determination than Cristian Romero to respond to Cody Gakpo’s cut-back with a deftly placed volley. This gave Liverpool a two-goal lead.
Harvey Elliott’s wonderful through-ball found Gakpo, taking advantage of the improbable openings in the Spurs back five, but Romero eventually forced him out.
After this week’s offer of a refund for their time spent at St. James’ Park, the frustrated Spurs fans chanted “We want our money back,” but their self-pity turned to rage when Romero fouled Gakpo and Salah converted his first penalty in three attempts.
The Egypt international’s goal put him beyond Robbie Fowler and just two behind Steven Gerrard on the list of Liverpool’s all-time leading scorers with 184 in 300 games. It was his sixth straight home victory.