Roberto Firmino’s last-minute header broke Tottenham’s stubborn resistance at Anfield and sent Liverpool to the top of the Premier League table.
An entertaining encounter looked set to end in stalemate before – with the game entering stoppage time – Firmino soared to flash a header high past Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris from Andrew Robertson’s corner.
Liverpool flew at Spurs in the opening exchanges and went ahead when Mohamed Salah’s shot took a big deflection off Eric Dier and looped over Lloris.
Spurs had barely left their own half but struck with a counter punch seven minutes later when Son Heung-min raced clear to slip a composed finish past Alisson.
Spurs actually had the better chances in the second half, with Steven Bergwijn firing wide then hitting a post when clean through and Harry Kane heading over from point-blank range.
Manager Jose Mourinho was left to regret those missed opportunities as a late Liverpool surge ended with Firmino’s winner to send the defending champions three points clear at the top of the table and inflict Spurs’ first Premier League loss since the opening weekend home defeat against Everton.
WEDNESDAY 16TH DECEMBER 2020
Arsenal 1 Southampton 1
Leeds 5 Newcastle 2
Leicester 0 Everton 2
Fulham 0 Brighton 0
Liverpool 2 Tottenham 1
West Ham 1 Crystal Palace 1
As It Stood
Team P GD Pts
1 Liverpool 13 10 28
2 Tottenham 13 13 25
3 Southampton 13 7 24
4 Leicester 13 7 24
5 Everton 13 5 23
6 Chelsea 13 12 22
7 West Ham 13 5 21
8 Man City 12 6 20
9 Man Utd 11 2 20
10 Wolves 13 -4 20
11 Aston Villa 10 8 18
12 Crystal Palace 13 1 18
13 Leeds 13 -2 17
14 Newcastle 12 -5 17
15 Arsenal 13 -5 14
16 Brighton 13 -6 11
17 Fulham 13 -10 9
18 Burnley 11 -12 9
19 West Brom 13 -16 7
20 Sheff Utd 12 -16 1