Van Dijk: Kane dived to win penalty in dramatic draw
Harry Kane hit a hundred. And a hurricane of controversy broke out. This was one extraordinary Premier League game. It was a whirlwind, breathless encounter summed up by the most remarkable final 15 minutes, including five chaotic minutes of added time.
At the final whistle the angry chant of “cheat, cheat, cheat” rang out for referee Jon Moss and his assistant Edward Smart, as Tottenham Hotspur courageously salvaged a point against Liverpool.
They scored one penalty and missed another. Neither, Liverpool vehemently argued, with manager Jurgen Klopp furious, should have been given with Kane making a shocking hash of the first one and then coolly scoring the second.
It marked his 100th Premier League goal. “If you have the personality to score 100 Premier League goals then it’s because you have big, big balls,” manager Mauricio Pochettino said. Kane has the cojones. There was also a message from the striker himself. “You can’t give me two tries,” he said without a hint of arrogance. Well, just a touch.
Kane grabbed the headlines, but that should not fully detract from another dazzling display from Mohamed Salah who scored twice. His first took him to 20 Premier League goals in just 25 matches, the quickest a Liverpool player has reach that mark, two games ahead of Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge.
The first goal was predatory, the second was brilliant, a Messi-like effort as he danced past three Spurs defenders deep in injury time, and in the tightest of spaces inside the penalty area, to dink the ball past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
It was a goal worthy of winning any game and it came after another deserving that status, by Spurs substitute Victor Wanyama. If Salah’s effort was a thing of beauty then the midfielder’s was a beast: a strike of ferocity from fully 25 yards that ripped into the net.
What a game. What an ending. There were two goals of the season, two Kane penalties and two points lost by Liverpool who led after 94 minutes but still could not win.
There were even more talking points: another deserved yellow card for Dele Alli for diving and an imperious performance by Liverpool’s record signing Virgil van Dijk – until he fouled another Spurs substitute, Erik Lamela, for that second penalty. And there was more. Goalkeeper has been a problem area for Liverpool, and having given Loris Karius a run of games to stake his claim Klopp was rewarded with a quixotic performance: a questionable punch for Spurs equaliser, a penalty conceded – and then saved.
Pochettino was not exempt. He initially got his tactics wrong as he set Spurs in a diamond midfield which was over-run with Alli deep and Kane isolated. Until changes were made, it was only Mousa Dembele holding it together.
Spurs were quickly behind and it was a dire concession. Or, rather, an Eric Dier concession – although Davinson Sanchez did not cover himself in glory either as he contested the ball with Roberto Firmino. It broke to Dier who, facing his own goal, scuffed a back pass that allowed Salah a clear run.
Sanchez tried to get back, but Salah’s first touch allowed him time to tuck the ball low across Lloris. The clock read just two minutes and 50 seconds.
Sanchez lasted 70 minutes before being hooked by Pochettino who scented a way back into the game. In fact, the substitutions by both managers were interesting as Klopp reacted defensively and even ended up with five at the back after sending on Joel Matip.
Chances were traded with Firmino steering a header just wide after a James Milner shot had been deflected past the same post, while it was not until after half-time that Spurs threatened, with Alli pushed further forward.
By then the momentum had swung. Spurs were dominant, Liverpool feeding off scraps. And then all hell broke lose.
Spurs drew level when Christian Eriksen’s cross was punched out by Karius – should he have caught it? – but even then Emre Can had the chance to clear but did not. The ball ran to Dembele’s replacement, Wanyama, and barely 60 seconds after he came on he hit the sweet spot: one of those pile-drivers that has ferocity and that lovely arc a ball makes from out to in before bulging the net.
Spurs were on the up and when Alli threaded a pass through to Kane, the forward collected it and attempted to round Karius. Liverpool argued he went down easily, but the penalty was given after Moss consulted with his assistant. As they talked, replays appeared to show Kane was offside but then it became clear that Dejan Lovren had attempted to play the ball with it coming off him. “All I need to know is did he touch the ball,” Smart said.
Lovren did and under the laws it meant Kane was onside.
Even then Kane struck a poor penalty, far too straight, expecting Karius to dive. The goalkeeper did not and pushed it out. Liverpool felt justice was done and then believed they had claimed all the points, again, as Salah scored.
But there was one final big moment with substitute Fernando Llorente heading on a throw and Lamela nipping in. Van Dijk did not see him, raising his leg to clear and there was contact. How much? Not enough for Klopp, but enough for the officials and, it later transpired, the Premier League match centre which deemed both penalty calls correct. Kane again seized the ball and drove it nervelessly to Karius’s left. It was his 100th goal and in just 141 appearances, with only Alan Shearer (124 games) having reached that mark quicker. Few will have been more dramatic.