Liverpool finally secured a Premier League away win at the expense of Tottenham courtesy of a Mohamed Salah double.
Mohamed Salah scored a first-half double as Liverpool ended their wait for a first Premier League away win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Tottenham.
Salah gave the Reds a deserved early lead and capitalized on Eric Dier’s horrendous mistake to double their advantage as he took his goal tally of the season to 14 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
Spurs came alive in the second half and Harry Kane’s 13th goal of the campaign halved the deficit, but they are only in fourth place after suffering home defeats in the top flight.
It was Liverpool’s first Premier League win in three Premier League games after being stunned by Nottingham Forest and Leeds United to move up to eighth.
The Reds started with vigor and Darwin Nunez forced an excellent save from Hugo Lloris before the lively Uruguay forward curled a shot wide of the far post.
Nunez showed great awareness for a brilliantly worked opener in the 11th minute, picking out Salah in the box and the prolific striker capped off a neat move by taking a touch to control the ball before slotting it into the bottom left corner with his left foot.
Ivan Perisic nodded against the post when Alisson failed to deal with Harry Kane’s whipped cross, but Dier gifted Liverpool a second goal five minutes before the break.
The defender tried to direct a long ball back to Lloris but presented Salah with the opportunity to race and slip past the Spurs keeper with a clinical finish.
Spurs started the second half brightly after being booed on the break and Perisic rattled the crossbar as Ryan Sessegnon pulled the ball back behind the Croatia international.
Salah missed a great chance to complete his hat-trick when he shot straight at Lloris and Kane got Spurs back with just over 20 minutes remaining.
A fit-again Dejan Kulusevski played a smart pass past the England captain and fired a right-footed shot into the far corner from the box to give Spurs hope.
Tottenham continued to dominate, but Liverpool held on for a long-awaited Premier League victory.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool player ratings
1. Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2)
GK: Hugo Lloris – 5/10 – Hesitant on a few crosses but made some decent saves.
CB: Eric Dier – 3/10 – His mindless error changed the complexion of the game and gave Spurs too much to do.
CB: Clement Lenglet – 6/10 – Kept Firmino largely quiet but it didn’t count for much.
CB: Ben Davies – 5/10 – Did his best to battle Salah and yet the Egyptian still scored a brace.
RM: Emerson Royal – 4/10 – Defensively could have helped Dier out against Nunez, while his distribution left a lot to be desired.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur – 6/10 – Technically excellent but failed to make an impact in the final third.
CM: Yves Bissouma – 6/10 – Did his duties as the deepest midfielder well, though he had a lot on his plate.
CM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 4/10 – One of those days where the Dane’s touch wasn’t sticking and his passing was way off.
LM: Ryan Sessegnon – 5/10 – Got at Alexander-Arnold a few times but should have exploited that matchup more.
CF: Harry Kane – 7/10 – Often tried to make everything happen, which is understandable considering Spurs’ attacking absences, but this meant his action in the penalty area was limited.
CF: Ivan Perisic – 6/10 – Asked to play a much more advanced role and was a focal point of most of Spurs’ best attacks.
SUB: Matt Doherty (68′ for Emerson) – 6/10 – An upgrade on Emerson in every department.
SUB: Dejan Kulusevski (68′ for Sessegnon) – 7/10 – An instant impact who forced Liverpool to change how they defended.
SUB: Lucas Moura (89′ for Bissouma) – N/A
Manager: Antonio Conte – 6/10 – Spurs were ultimately undone by individual errors, though their structure was impressive in spite of key absences.
2. Liverpool (4-3-3)
GK: Alisson – 6/10 – Had a couple of hairy moments but ultimately his shot-stopping saved Liverpool.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – Tremendous on the ball but was clearly on skates off of it.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 7/10 – Usually defended on the front foot well.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 7/10 – Similarly played with aggression but noticeable stood off following Kulusevski’s introduction.
LB: Andy Robertson – 7/10 – Helped by the fact Emerson was so poor. His delivery was typically great.
DM: Fabinho – 5/10 – Wasn’t always concentrating but this was one of Fabinho’s better performances this season.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 6/10 – A technical wizard, though was roughed up by Spurs’ aggressive midfielders.
CM: Thiago – 8/10 – Glided through Spurs’ midfield with ease and also put in some crunching challenges.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 9/10 – Back to his ruthless best today, taking both goals extremely well and proving the difference.
CF: Roberto Firmino – 5/10 – Marked out of the game and was eventually hooked.
LW: Darwin Nunez – 7/10 – Caused all sorts of problems down Tottenham’s right side.
SUB: Curtis Jones (74′ for Firmino) – 5/10
SUB: Jordan Henderson (74′ for Elliott) – 5/10
SUB: Joe Gomez (87′ for Nunez) – N/A
SUB: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (90′ for Salah) – N/A
Manager: Jurgen Klopp – 5/10 – Liverpool managed to hold Spurs off but it was much closer than Klopp would have probably liked.
