Liverpool Beaten by Tottenham
Superb Spurs off to Winning Start in New Season
After the first round of Premier League fixtures, some Manchester United supporters would no doubt be impressed by their manager’s clairvoyance.
Liverpool's Title Credentials
In a pre-season interview, Sir Alex Ferguson suggested that Liverpool, Premier League runners-up last term, would find it hard to emulate their brilliant run of form towards the end of last season and prevent his Red Devils from winning an unprecedented four consecutive English top flight league titles.
And a few weeks after those comments Liverpool put in a lethargic performance to lose 2-1 at Tottenham for a second season in a row.
Liverpool Lost at Tottenham Again
While Liverpool could have been called unlucky in this fixture last season, having lost to a Jamie Carragher own-goal and a last-minute Roman Pavlyuchenko strike, the manner of their defeat on Sunday ruled out any possibility of misfortune playing a role.
Liverpool started the match badly. After 15 minutes, a bizarre break-down in communication between their two centre-backs saw Jamie Carragher put his head through Martin Škrtel’s jaws when both went for the same ball, under no pressure from Tottenham players.
Carragher and Škrtel Clashed Accidentally
Both players were unsettled by the resultant injuries, with Carragher needing 12 stitches and Škrtel visibly debilitated though playing on until the 70th minute.
The first half was one-way traffic. Liverpool showed extreme discomfort in possession and could not string more than a couple of passes together, creating nothing meaningful before half-time. Tottenham was everything that Liverpool wasn’t – they were sharp, lively and closing down the opposition everywhere on the pitch, creating three good chances for Robbie Keane, who was twice denied by Reina and once by his own profligacy.
Tottenham Dominated First Half
But even Reina, the only Liverpool player who performed to his normal standard in the first half, was unable to prevent the Spurs opener on the 44th minute.
The goal started from a marauding run by Tottenham’s Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios, who was tripped a few yards outside the penalty area. As Tom Huddlestone slammed the free-kick into the wall, the rebound fell to Benoit Assou-Ekotto. The Spurs left-back took a touch then unleashed the fiercest of strikes into the top left corner.
Liverpool Equalised by Gerrard Penalty
Liverpool were better in the second half, and when Glen Johnson, their new £17m right-back, ghosted past a couple of Spurs defender and got into the box on the 56th minute, it caused enough panic in Heurelho Gomes for the Brazilian keeper to come off his line and trip the England full-back.
Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s top goal-scorer last season, duly converted the resultant penalty with remarkable aplomb.
Bassong's Goal-Scoring Debut
At 1-1 many would have bet on a Liverpool comeback. But when Sébastien Bassong, the £8m Tottenham new signing, outjumped Carragher to head home a Spurs free-kick, the damage proved irreparable from Liverpool’s point of view.
Tottenham strengthened their control of the match after retaking their lead. Rafael Benítez replaced the ineffective Ryan Babel soon after with Yossi Benayoun who was in such good form at the end of last season that his exclusion from the starting line-up on Sunday was mystifying to say the least.
Benayoun Shone as Babel Flopped
Benayoun might have felt aggrieved himself, as Liverpool instantly looked more threatening after he came on. As if to punish Benítez further on his selection error, after an angled run on the 86th minute, Benayoun played a diagonal ball into the Tottenham box for Andriy Voronin, coming back from a loan spell at Hertha Berlin, who was clear through.
Penalty Controversy
As Voronin was hacked down by Assou-Ekotto, Phil Dowd the referee did not think there was a foul. The Liverpool bench was visibly enraged, with the subsequent exchange between them and the officials leading to Sammy Lee, the Liverpool assistant manager, being banished to the stands while Tottenham held on to the win.
Liverpool Failed to Reproduce Last Season's Form
It was a prime example for the age-old truism in football that form does not carry itself over to a new season.
It was a happy day for Tottenham – Bassong made a goal-scoring debut; Modric and Palacios were imperial in midfield; Ledley King and Vedran Corluka showed all their characteristic experience and composure.
Benitez surely would know better than to put the loss down to poor refereeing decisions. His Liverpool team was out-played in all departments, and the shallowness of his bench was cruelly exposed.
Liverpool's Failings
With Emiliano Insua struggling to get out of Corluka’s pocket and Babel running himself out of space the few times that he had the ball, Liverpool went down their right channel every time they attacked and was far too slow in switching play between the flanks.
The consequence was a Fernando Torres so starved of service that he was easily taken off the game by the Tottenham defense.
If Benítez does not instill some much-needed urgency and creativity into Liverpool’s play, their title challenge will surely melt away faster than they turned over possession on Sunday. As for Tottenham, they will be full of confidence after this result, but it will be their travels that will tell what they are made of.
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