Diogo Jota scored deep in stoppage-time as Liverpool clinched a 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in a barely-believable Premier League thriller at Anfield on Sunday.
The Portuguese substitute struck within the fourth minute of added time, one minute after Tottenham substitute Richarlison thought he had earned his facet an unlikely level.
Goals by Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool 3-0 forward contained in the opening quarter-hour as Tottenham suffered a horrible case of deja-vu having conceded 5 within the opening 21 minutes of a 6-1 rout at Newcastle United per week in the past.
But Tottenham hit again earlier than halftime by Harry Kane and hit the woodwork 3 times earlier than Son Heung-min arrange a nerve-jangling finale and Richarlison flicked a downward header previous Alisson within the third minute of stoppage time.
There was one ultimate twist although as Jota latched on to a mistake by Lucas Moura and fired low previous Fraser Forster to spark pandemonium on the touchline.
Liverpool supervisor Juergen Klopp appeared to tug his hamstring as he celebrated manically and was additionally proven a yellow card in essentially the most weird of climaxes.
To make issues worse for Tottenham they felt Jota ought to have been red-carded for an earlier excessive boot that caught Oliver Skipp’s head that was solely punished with a yellow.
When coronary heart charges returned to regular the desk reveals Liverpool now above Tottenham in fifth place with 56 factors from 33 video games, to Tottenham’s 54 from 34,
Liverpool, who’ve gained 4 video games in a row, will not be out of the battle for a top-four end however are seven factors behind fourth-placed Manchester United who’ve a sport in hand and 9 factors behind third-placed Newcastle United who’ve performed 33.
“Crazy. What a game. These are the games we love to play in. A fantastic ending to a game. Stuff you love to see to be honest,” Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold instructed Sky Sports.
“It’s not so much relief it’s just celebration. It’s pushing to get the winner again. We go from disappointment to sheer joy in a matter of minutes. Outstanding way to win a game.”
For Tottenham the temper was despair though after final week’s diabolical show at Newcastle which price interim supervisor Cristian Stellini his job, this time there was pleasure.
“To get back in the game and give them a goal is difficult to take,” a devastated Ryan Mason, Tottenham’s second stand-in supervisor since Antonio Conte was sacked, mentioned.
“We were the better team by an absolute country mile. To gift a team like Liverpool four goals makes it difficult. It’s tough to put it into words, absolutely gutted.”
A chaotic first half was solely three minutes outdated when Curtis Jones put the hosts in entrance from Alexander-Arnold’s cross and two minutes later Diaz, making his first begin since knee surgical procedure, volleyed in Cody Gakpo’s reduce.
When Cristian Romero needlessly fouled Gakpo within the thirteenth minute and Salah blasted a penalty excessive into the online Tottenham have been on target for an additional horror present.
With some Spurs supporters leaving early and others chanting “we want our money back” the guests got here alive when Kane volleyed previous Alisson from an Ivan Perisic cross within the thirty ninth minute earlier than Son curled a left-footed effort on to the publish.
Tottenham cursed their dangerous luck after the break when Son and Romero noticed efforts bounce off posts throughout the house of a few minutes however Son then glided on to Romero’s go within the 77th minute to complete with aplomb to arrange the barnstorming finale.