Snatching a late controversial winner on Thursday night, Tottenham secured a slender EFL Cup advantage as they clinched a 1-0 victory against Liverpool in north London.
While England international Dominic Solanke might have seen his late strike narrowly ruled out by VAR, Lucas Bergvall managed to grab what was a controversial winner in N17.
Slotting home and handing Ange Postecoglou’s side a shock advantage, Liverpool were left furious that the Swedish youngster was not shown a second yellow card following a clumsy foul on Kostas Tsimikas.
Although second-half substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold might have seen his driven strike cleared off the line by Radu Dragusin, the Premier League leaders failed to find any real fluidity in the final third.
With their EFL Cup ambitions taking a minor dent here, Liverpool will welcome Tottenham to Anfield for their second-leg battle on February 6th.
On a night when Tottenham moved themselves within 90 minuets of booking a trip to Wembley, we have taken a look at the main talking points.
Postecoglou gets the response he was dreaming of
Suffering another collapse in north London last weekend as they opened the New Year with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Newcastle, it is no secret that Postecoglou has come under a huge amount of scrutiny.
Only collecting a single point from any of their previous four Premier League appearances, some sections of the Spurs support have become frustrated with the former Celtic boss.
However, although Tottenham might still be scrapping it out in the bottom-half of the Premier League table, Wednesday’s hosts must use their gritty performance here as a platform to build on.
Collecting back-to-back victories across any competition on just a single occasion since returning from November’s international break, Spurs are crying out for some crucial stability going forward.
Holding a slender advantage when they travel to Anfield next month for their second-leg showdown, Tottenham will be looking to avoid what would be an infamous FA Cup banana skin when they travel to fifth-tier outfit Tamworth this weekend.
Liverpool put themselves at a disadvantage
Eventually forced to settle for an action-packed 2-2 stalemate at home against historic rivals Manchester United last weekend, Liverpool travelled to north London seeking an immediate response.
However, while Arne Slot’s men might have opened Thursday’s showdown looking to lay down another domestic marker, the Reds will be ruing a missed opportunity.
Suffering just a second defeat of the season across any competition here, Liverpool will be looking to prove that their downbeat display in the capital was northing more than a minor blip.
While Slot’s side might still hold a commanding six-point buffer at the top of the Premier League table, Liverpool are seeking some recent defensive steel.
Claiming what was a remarkable 6-3 victory when they travelled to Spurs back on December 22nd, the Reds have recorded just a single clean sheet from any of their last seven appearances across all competitions.
Solanke shines again in north London
While the record-breaking Mohamed Salah might have stolen plenty of the striking headlines heading into Thursday’s showdown, it was Tottenham’s newest number nine who proved to be the difference here.
Although Solanke might have seen his late strike ruled out by VAR just moments before Bergvall’s winner, the England international done another stellar job of leading Tottenham’s charge.
While there might have been plenty of eyebrows raised following Solanke’s £65million move from Bournemouth last summer, the one-time Chelsea youngster appears to be relishing life back in the capital.
Producing the assist for Bergvall’s late winner and continuing to cement his spot as a fan favourite in north London, Solanke clearly has a leading role to play given Tottenham’s injury crisis.
Bagging a consolation strike at home against Newcastle last weekend, the 27-year-old has recorded 10 direct goal contributions so far this season and is repaying the hefty transfer fee that Spurs splashed out last summer.
Match Report
Tottenham: Kinsky, Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bissouma, Bentancur, Bergvall, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke
Subs: Johnson, Werner
Liverpool: Alisson, Bradley, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones, Gakpo, Salah, Jota
Subs: Konate, Endo, Nunez, Alexander-Arnold, Diaz
Goals: Bergvall (86’)
Yellow Cards: Bissouma, Bergvall
Red Cards: N/A
Referee: Stuart Attwell
