Mohamed Salah scored on his return to the starting XI as Liverpool survived a scare to beat Tottenham 4-2 in the Premier League.
The Reds looked formidable at times in Jurgen Klopp’s penultimate home game at Anfield and cruised into the lead through their talisman, who headed past Guglielmo Vicario early on.
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Andy Robertson doubled the lead after following up on a Salah shot just before half-time and Harvey Elliott scored a screamer in the second half that left a huge smile on the face of his manager.
It was 4-0 soon after when Cody Gakpo rose above Cristian Romero to head in and Liverpool looked home and dry with 15 minutes to play.
But Spurs showed a little bit of fight that had been missing for the majority of the match and pulled one back through substitute Richarlison.
A six-goal thriller sees @LFC claim the win 🔴#LIVTOT pic.twitter.com/utazh0xMgw
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 5, 2024
The Brazilian then set up captain Heung-Min Son to put nerves on edge in the Merseyside sun.
Salah had a goal ruled out in stoppage time due to an offside in the build-up, but the Reds held on to win the game.
The loss marks Tottenham’s fourth in a row in the Premier League, something they have not done since 2004.
Newcastle are now four points behind the London club while Chelsea and Manchester United are two further back, with three games to go for Ange Postecoglou’s men.
After the loss at Chelsea on Thursday night, Spurs’ Australian head coach would have hoped for a reaction from his players, but they looked to just be going through the motions.
Son was absent in the final third and struggled to get hold of the ball in a central role.
The chances they did get came through Brennan Johnson, but he showed a lack of quality with his final ball – which has been the story of his season.
At the back, Emerson Royal was filling in again for the absent Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies and he had a horrible time against Salah and was withdrawn in the second half, perhaps later than he should have been.
He was unaware of the Egyptian sneaking in behind him for Liverpool’s first goal, allowing the winger to have a free header.
✊❤️ pic.twitter.com/v6RhjmLKG3
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 5, 2024
Salah cleverly wrong-footed Vicario and headed towards the near post, giving his side a deserved lead.
It remained one-way traffic from that point, with Spurs’ lack of a creative midfielder costing them and Rodrigo Bentancur often turning into trouble and being hounded by Elliott, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo.
Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were given their usual licenses to get forward, with the latter having several strikes from distance, and the former bagging the second goal of the afternoon.
The Scotsman followed up on a Salah strike that was pushed into his path by the goalkeeper and ran off to celebrate with the crowd on what was becoming a comfortable afternoon for the hosts.
Royal was at fault again in the second half when Liverpool scored their third, heading a cross straight to Salah, who teed up Elliott to unleash a brilliant strike into the top corner after riding a half-hearted challenge from Bentancur.
Spurs were then caught on the counter for the fourth and a lovely move was finished off by Gakpo, who did well to beat Romero – who is usually so ferocious in the air – to the ball and past Vicario.
A host of changes had been made by Postecoglou at that point and Richarlison, Giovani Lo Celso and Oliver Skipp brought a fresh burst of energy to the pitch.
Wataru Endo loved Harvey Elliott’s wonder strike! 😮#BBCFootball #LIVTOT pic.twitter.com/6f3Myp7ffq
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 5, 2024
Richarlison turned home a cross to quieten the noisy Anfield crowd and he was successfully getting in behind Virgil van Dijk and holding the ball up, which led to Spurs’ second goal from Son, who was composed enough to pass into the net through a number of Liverpool defenders.
It wasn’t enough to mount a comeback but Postecoglou can take some positives from the final 10 minutes of the match.
Liverpool are not mathematically out of the title race just yet, but could be by the end of the next round of fixtures if both Arsenal and Manchester City win their games.
