Author: Soorya G
“Liverpool scored three Tottenham goals in 15 minutes of the meeting. In the 93rd minute, Spurs leveled the score – 3:3. But then they conceded a goal from Diogo Jota, wasted all their efforts and suffered yet another painful defeat in the Premier League. Newcastle United also maintained their excellent form with a 3-1 win over last-placed Southampton. Callum Wilson scored two wonderful goals, with a strike at either end of the game, while Theo Walcott’s own goal secured a 3-1 win for the hosts. Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton played for the hosts throughout the match, receiving the highest marks. But the guests’ Brazilian defender Lyanko can hardly be pleased with himself
Spurs struggled to get going as Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz put Liverpool 2-0 up within minutes of the restart. Shadows of the 6-1 defeat against Newcastle, where they conceded five goals in twenty minutes, must have crossed the minds of the Tottenham faithful as the outlook looked bleak for the visitors.
To make matters worse, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah extended his side’s lead to three goals when he stepped up to take the penalty and hit his shot after the powerful and impressive Cody Gakpo was brought down inside the box by Argentina’s World Cup-winning defender Christian Romero. Harry Kane once again seemed to be Tottenham’s only hope, as he has been for most of the season, scoring his 25th Premier League goal as his side sniffed a chance of a comeback.
After Harry Kane’s goal, the 2019 Champions League finalists saw numerous chances from Heung-Min Son and Dejan Kulusevski go begging. The South Korean striker and Romero hit the post in the first few minutes after the restart. With less than 15 minutes remaining, Son scored to bring the score to 3-2. Spurs pushed players into the Liverpool area and finally found the equalizer, through Richarlison, when the Brazilian made his former team proud with a goal in the backyard of their biggest rivals.
Spurs’ joy was short-lived as Diogo Jota took advantage of Lucas Moura’s deflected ball to the goalkeeper shortly after kick-off to set up Fraser Forster and electrify the atmosphere at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp injured his hamstring in the joyous moments after the decisive goal. After the win, Klopp’s men overtook Tottenham to take fifth place in the league table. However, it looks like fifth place could be the extent of Liverpool’s rise, as the nine-point gap between them and Newcastle looks difficult to overcome at this stage of the season.
Meanwhile, Manchester City all but cemented their victory over Arsenal with a win over Fulham to go one point clear at the top of the Premier League table. The league leaders now have one more game in hand, and a win in that game would take them very close to another Premier League title in Pep Guardiola’s brilliant and dominant tenure at the Etihad. Erling Haaland equaled Andy Cole and Alan Shearer’s record for the most Premier League goals in a season with a penalty in the third minute, before Brazilian Vinicius equalized for the hosts 1-1. However, World Cup winner Julian Alvarez managed to score a decisive goal just before half-time as City emerged victorious away from home.
Brazil goalkeeper Ederson played the entire match for City. At Fulham – Willian missed the game because of the streetcar. Andreas Pereira started, but picked up an injury at the start of the second half.
Manchester United also won their game against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa thanks to a goal from Bruno Fernandes. Brazilian legend Casemiro was excellent in midfield as United managed to silence in-form Aston Villa with a 1-0 win.
Brazilians in squads
Fred and Anthony spent the last 15 minutes of the game on the pitch. Fred got the yellow card and Anthony hit the net weakly in injury time. Coutinho missed the match for the guests due to a hip injury, and Douglas Louis could take the tie to his team. But the defender cleared the ball after his shot in the 81st minute.