THROW WORKS
ball over the Spurs defence into the path of Roberto Firmino, who turned effortlessly inside his defender in the box and curled a left-foot shot towards goal. It was bound for the corner until Tanganga threw himself at it to block.
The ball came back out to Firmino, who played it to OxladeChamberlain. His shot also beat Paulo Gazzaniga but it rebounded off the post, hit the back of Tanganga’s legs and fell into the grateful arms of the Spurs keeper.
The hosts hit back. Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min both went close with curling shots from the edge of the area but Spurs saw so little of the ball for the next 20 minutes that they were restricted to trying to hold back the flood.
When another chance did come, it was Liverpool, inevitably, who created it but, when Jordan Henderson floated a ball to the back post, Virgil van Dijk’s header was too close to Gazzaniga, who beat it away from point-blank range.
Eight minutes before half-time, though, Spurs could not hold Liverpool back any longer. The visitors won a throw — unfairly. Henderson competed bravely for a loose ball on the edge of the box, winning it by bowing his head among the feet.
It fell to Salah, and when he slipped a pass to Firmino, the Brazil striker suckered Tanganga by allowing the ball to run across his body and then rifling a fierce drive past Gazzaniga. Tanganga’s inexperience had counted against him.
Spurs were given a hint of encouragement just before the hour when Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold got in each other’s way and the loose ball broke to Dele Alli. Alli burst forward to the edge of the box but as he shot, Van Dijk made a perfectly timed tackle to snuff out the danger. A minute later, Son fired just wide.
And he should have scored midway through the half but he lifted his shot high over the bar.
Seven minutes from the end, the stadium rose in anticipation of an equaliser when sub Giovani Lo Celso stretched to meet a Serge Aurier cross, but his lunging half volley flew across goal and wide.