Kane rescues draw for Spurs after frenzied finish at Anfield
Liverpool 2, Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino branded Liverpool lucky to escape with a draw despite his own team needing an injury-time penalty to salvage a point from a frenzied finish at Anfield.
Striker Harry Kane put an earlier spot-kick miss behind him to net an equalising penalty in the 95th minute, becoming the second fastest player to reach a century of Premier League goals.
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Liverpool top scorer Mohamed Salah appeared to have snatched victory for the hosts just moments earlier with his own stoppage-time strike – his second goal of the game.
Spurs trailed for almost 80 minutes, until substitute Victor Wanyama’s thunderous leveller, yet they still might have won but for Kane’s penalty miss and Pochettino was in no mood to sympathise with the hosts.
“For me and for us who are professional about football, when you analyse the game it was always under control,” he said.
“Only after our mistake we conceded the first goal, but if we analyse the 90 minutes Tottenham was much better. In the end I think it was a fantastic game and a little bit lucky for them that they got one point.”
Both teams are chasing Champions League qualification and the draw suited neither. Liverpool remain third, two points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, but they could be overtaken by Chelsea, who visit Watford on Monday.
Salah made it 2-1 to Liverpool in the 91st minute (Source: Getty)
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp accused the officials of attention-seeking, pointing out that Kane had been offside when he won the first penalty and arguing that Erik Lamela had drawn a foul for the second, which the referee initially missed.
“It was clear offside. And the second one, yes Virgil van Dijk touched him but we all know Lamela wants the touch,” said Klopp.
“A situation like that in the last minute? Wow. You need to be sure or leave it. But he [the assistant referee] obviously wanted to be in the middle of interest and now he is. I cannot change that.”
Salah pounced on Eric Dier’s misplaced pass to slot past Hugo Lloris in the third minute and James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Van Dijk all threatened to increase Liverpool’s lead before half-time.
Virgil van Dijk's challenge on Erik Lamela led to Kane's second penalty attempt (Source: Getty)
Wanyama rewarded mounting Spurs pressure with a rasping outside-of-the-boot half-volley from 25 yards and five minutes later Kane wasted the chance to put the visitors in front with a tame spot-kick.
Salah punished that miss with his 26th goal of the season, squirming past two challenges before lifting over Lloris from close range, but Kane redeemed himself with the last meaningful action of the game.
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