Tottenham highlights: Thrilling finale highlights why Spurs and Liverpool are high on drama, but low on silverware

1/49
Tom Collomosse4 February 2018

Harry Kane scored his 100th Premier League goal as his last-gasp penalty rescued a 2-2 draw for Tottenham at Liverpool in a game that had a staggering conclusion.

Kane saw his controversial 87th-minute spot-kick saved and that looked to prove costly when Mohamed Salah lit up Anfield with a sensational individual effort moments into added-on time.

But Kane was given the chance to atone when the linesman spotted Virgil van Dijk's kick on Erik Lamela in the fourth minute of injury time and the England forward this time made no mistake, slotting low to Karius' left as he joined the '100 club' in dramatic fashion.

An epic and contentious ending was the main talking point from the match in which Salah's early opener was cancelled out by substitute Victor Wanyama's thunderbolt 10 minutes from time.

Tom Collomosse assesses the key talking points for Spurs...

Dodgy day for Sanchez

Getty Images

Davinson Sanchez has had a decent debut season at the heart of Tottenham’s defence, but Mauricio Pochettino will be delighted when Toby Alderweireld is match fit again.

Although Alderweireld was not at his absolute best before sustaining a hamstring injury in November, Tottenham need his class and composure, not to mention the understanding he has with fellow Belgian Jan Vertonghen.

Sanchez’s uncertainty under a high ball helped create the early goal for Mohamed Salah, and the Colombian - Tottenham’s record signing, don’t forget - never looked at ease when Liverpool poured forward.

True, he was entitled to expect better protection from his central midfielders, especially Eric Dier, but this was still a tough afternoon for Sanchez.

Van Dijk is no Jones

AFP/Getty Images

Tottenham’s barnstorming display against Manchester United last Wednesday owed much to the performance of Harry Kane, who dominated United centre-backs Chris Smalling and - especially - Phil Jones.

Yet as Danny Murphy highlighted in his Standard Sport column on Friday, Virgil van Dijk is a tougher opponent than either of the England defenders.

In the first half, Kane had barely any service, and when he did receive possession, Van Dijk was usually in the right place to keep him quiet.

Even in the second half, when Spurs were more prominent, Van Dijk was generally in command - until the dramatic finale.

Son squanders chances

Getty Images

Heung-min Son is a fine player whose contribution to this Tottenham team has been undervalued for too long.

If he could make better decisions when clear on the goalkeeper, though, he would be one of the top men in the league.

Even when Liverpool were dominant in the first half, Son was released by Kieran Trippier, only to see his shot blocked when Kane was unmarked in the middle.

Then, early in the second period, Christian Eriksen picked out Son’s run with a reverse flick but Son delayed his shot, allowing Loris Karius to race out of his goal and block.

Thrilling finish highlights flaws

Getty Images

A spectacular end to the game - three goals, two penalties, one missed and one scored - left everyone at Anfield breathless.

When the dust had settled, though, it was clear that these teams are still lacking the know-how required to win the major prizes.

Tottenham played into Liverpool’s hands in the first half, only for the home team to let them back into the game in the second.

Then, after Kane missed the first penalty, Spurs did not wise up quickly enough to stop Salah sneaking in for his second.

At that point, surely Liverpool would be able to shut up shop? Wrong.

They gave away a second spot-kick, and this time Kane punished them. Great entertainment, but not winning football.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in