Agony turned to ecstasy as Diogo Jota‘s last-minute winner sealed three points for Liverpool in an action-packed encounter against Tottenham. Three goals in the first 15 minutes weren’t enough for Liverpool to comfortably see the game out, with the Reds conceding three after the break. Jota was the hero of the day, though, as he netted a winner deep into injury time after Richarlison thought he had secured a point for Tottenham, with a late goal of his own. There was so much happening at Anfield that you may have missed, so we’ve put together a list of things spotted as Liverpool beat Tottenham 4-3.
Jurgen’s disbelief at Salah ‘foul’: Jurgen Klopp and referee Paul Tierney were once again at odds, and the Liverpool manager showed his exasperation when Mo Salah was penalised for a foul in front of the technical area, despite the assistant referee keeping his flag down. Klopp’s celebration for Jota involved him running up to the fourth official before turning away and pulling his hamstring in the process. Tierney didn’t see the funny side and showed Klopp a yellow card. The German has since said: “My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair, but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.” Having reviewed the referee’s audio, the PGMOL “strongly refute” Klopp’s claims.
Not even a free-kick?: Tottenham‘s boss, Ryan Mason, was also displeased with the official’s performance and insisted Jota should have been sent off for a high boot on Oliver Skipp. But Mason conveniently ignores that Skipp himself could have seen red in the first half for a dangerous tackle on Luis Diaz. As the Tottenham midfielder lunged in on the Colombian, he touched the ball but also caught Diaz high on the ankle with his studs. Not even a foul was given. After the game, Mason made clear his displeasure at the decision to only show Jota a yellow, but Klopp responded by saying: “I heard from your colleague that Skipp shouldn’t have been on the pitch because of a challenge on Luis Diaz. “Diogo was not intentional, it was high. I really think Ryan Mason has other things to talk about.”
A false start: Just before kick-off, there was a tricky moment for fans at Anfield when You’ll Never Walk Alone started to be played before being replaced by the Premier League anthem just a couple of lines in. This created confusion with some carrying-on singing… but normality was restored as the famous song started back up again minutes later!
Richarlison’s reaction: Richarlison has become somewhat of a pantomime villain for Liverpool supporters. He scored in Everton‘s only win over Liverpool of the last 10 years and, on Sunday, netted his first league goal since his £60 million move, to equalise in injury time. During his exuberant celebrations, which included his strange ‘pigeon’ celebration, he shushed the Anfield crowd and took his shirt off before standing, arms aloft, in front of the away end. This made his reaction to Jota’s winner all the sweeter as put his hands on his head in dismay.
Thiago translates for Nunez: Darwin Nunez hasn’t started any of Liverpool’s last five matches since the return of Jota and Diaz to the team. Klopp has hinted that this is down to the other forwards’ superior pressing, but has also mentioned another issue that contributes to his selection process. “He has to learn English, that’s how it is. We can translate everything but in training sessions, we cannot have four languages translated,” the Liverpool manager recently said. Before coming on against Tottenham, eagle-eyed viewers spotted Thiago translating some instructions into Spanish for the Uruguayan.
Seen anything else that fans may have missed? Let us know in the comments below!