Jota seals thrilling win for Liverpool after Tottenham fightback

Diogo Jota of Liverpool scores the team’s fourth goal whilst under pressure from Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on April 30, 2023 in Liverpool, England.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Diogo Jota scored deep in stoppage-time as Liverpool clinched a 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in a barely-believable Premier League thriller at Anfield on Sunday.

The Portuguese substitute struck in the fourth minute of added time, one minute after Tottenham substitute Richarlison thought he had earned his side an unlikely point.

Goals by Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool 3-0 ahead inside the opening 15 minutes as Tottenham suffered a horrible case of deja-vu having conceded five in the opening 21 minutes of a 6-1 rout at Newcastle United a week ago.

But Tottenham hit back before halftime through Harry Kane and hit the woodwork three times before Son Heung-min set up a nerve-jangling finale and Richarlison flicked a downward header past Alisson in the third minute of stoppage time.

There was one final twist though as Jota latched on to a mistake by Lucas Moura and fired low past Fraser Forster to spark pandemonium on the touchline.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp appeared to pull his hamstring as he celebrated manically and was also shown a yellow card in the most bizarre of climaxes.

To make matters worse for Tottenham they felt Jota should have been red-carded for an earlier high boot that caught Oliver Skipp’s head that was only punished with a yellow.

When heart rates returned to normal the table shows Liverpool now above Tottenham in fifth place with 56 points from 33 games, to Tottenham’s 54 from 34,

Liverpool, who have won four games in a row, are not out of the battle for a top-four finish but are seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United who have a game in hand and nine points behind third-placed Newcastle United who have played 33.

“Crazy. What a game. These are the games we love to play in. A fantastic ending to a game. Stuff you love to see to be honest,” Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports.

“It’s not so much relief it’s just celebration. It’s pushing to get the winner again. We go from disappointment to sheer joy in a matter of minutes. Outstanding way to win a game.”

For Tottenham the mood was despair although after last week’s diabolical display at Newcastle which cost interim manager Cristian Stellini his job, this time there was pride.

“To get back in the game and give them a goal is difficult to take,” a devastated Ryan Mason, Tottenham’s second stand-in manager since Antonio Conte was sacked, said.

“We were the better team by an absolute country mile. To gift a team like Liverpool four goals makes it difficult. It’s tough to put it into words, absolutely gutted.”

A chaotic first half was only three minutes old when Curtis Jones put the hosts in front from Alexander-Arnold’s cross and two minutes later Diaz, making his first start since knee surgery, volleyed in Cody Gakpo’s cut back.

When Cristian Romero needlessly fouled Gakpo in the 13th minute and Salah blasted a penalty high into the net Tottenham were on course for another horror show.

With some Spurs supporters leaving early and others chanting “we want our money back” the visitors came alive when Kane volleyed past Alisson from an Ivan Perisic cross in the 39th minute before Son curled a left-footed effort on to the post.

Tottenham cursed their bad luck after the break when Son and Romero saw efforts bounce off posts within the space of a couple of minutes but Son then glided on to Romero’s pass in the 77th minute to finish with aplomb to set up the barnstorming finale.