Liverpool missed an opportunity to go within a point of league leaders, Man City after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Spurs
By Kehinde Okeowo
Liverpool lost the opportunity to go within one point of the league leaders, Manchester City after they were held to a draw by Spurs at Tottenham stadium.
Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead in the 13th minute with a clinical finish from Tanguy Ndombele’s excellent pass to give the host a 1-0 lead after Heung-Min Son and Dele Alli had both missed big scoring opportunities.
Portuguese striker Diogo Jota equalised for the visitors in the 35th minute with an outstanding header after a perfect cross from Andrew Robertson.
Kane missed two chances in the first 10 minutes of the second half before Liverpool took the lead in the 70th minute through Robertson’s header, Mohamed Salah, however, handballed the ball in the build-up to the goal.
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Spurs leveled instantly though Son after he rolled the ball into an empty net after Alisson missed an attempt to clear the ball.
Robertson was dismissed in the 77th minute after kicking Emerson near the touchline, he was initially issued a yellow card before VAR corrected Paul Tierney’s decision.
Liverpool is now 3 points away from the League leaders, Man City. Spurs remain 7th on 26 points with 3 outstanding games to play.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp talking to BBC sports after the game complained about the fixture schedule:
He said, “We play now on Wednesday, Sunday and Tuesday. That is impossible. We do not have the players. We could maybe have another case or two. We have to think about it, we cannot just push it all through.
“First of all, take away the second semi-final of the Carabao Cup. Just play once, wherever you play it I don’t care. The 26th and 28th of December is really not possible. We would prefer to play but we need some help. If we carry on we cannot carry on as usual.
“If we don’t play any more and have a break I am fine. But I know the problem. When do you want to play the games. It is not that easy to fit them in. We said before Coronavirus that it was a bit busy and now it gives us a proper punch.”
Spurs boss Antonio Conte also gave his assessment of the game. “I think to take one point against Liverpool is good. We’re talking about one of the best teams in the world. They’ve created something special for all these years.
“To play against Liverpool is not easy. You have to be prepared to suffer. They want to tackle with eight players. We prepared our game to face eight against eight and to attack the space. We created many chances. In the second half there was more balance. An exciting game for the fans. A good point but if we want to improve our mentality we have to start to think we should be disappointed to only get one point.
“I haven’t seen the decision about Robertson or Harry. My staff say the second goal was not regular because of a handball but I haven’t seen anything. Tomorrow I’m more calm to watch the game. A good game and both teams played very good. They are a point of reference for us to work hard and try to be closer to them. It won’t be easy. Liverpool is one of the best teams in the world.
“For sure we enjoyed the game and the atmosphere was fantastic. It was easier for us to play after two weeks. We suffered a lot in that time because the government decided to close our training ground. We worked well with the players, they were safe. Tonight we had a good performance.” Conte said.