Salah keeps Liverpool’s top-four chances alive after beating Spurs

Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool

Liverpool survived a trademark second-half rally from Tottenham to claim a crucial 2-1 win and boost their Premier League top-four hopes.

Mo Salah’s first-half double put Jurgen Klopp’s side on course for all three points but Harry Kane reduced the deficit with 20 minutes left.

Spurs pushed for a late leveller but were thwarted by a dogged Liverpool, who closed the gap between the sides to seven points and with a game in hand on the fourth-placed hosts.

After struggling for consistency for much of the season, Klopp would have been encouraged by a professional display to win their first away league game of the campaign and back up Tuesday’s triumph over Napoli.

Klopp rewarded Darwin Nunez for his goal against Napoli with a start and the Uruguayan saw an early volley parried away by Hugo Lloris before another curler went wide.

The visitors went ahead in the 11th minute. Andrew Robertson crossed to Nunez, he span away from his marker and teed up Salah, who took a touch and fired into the bottom corner.

Spurs responded well and hit the woodwork after 15 minutes. Kane produced a dangerous cross that Ivan Perisic missed and Alisson Becker inadvertently diverted onto the post.

Referee Andrew Madley waved away penalty appeals when Trent Alexander-Arnold shoved Ryan Sessegnon over in a similar incident to the one that saw Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo sent off on Saturday.

Antonio Conte’s side were looking the more likely until being undone by a poor Eric Dier mistake five minutes before the break.

The defender attempted to head Alisson’s clearance back to Lloris but got it horribly wrong and the ball bounced off his shoulder into the path of Salah, who raced through and lobbed coolly home.

Spurs, who came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Bournemouth last week, should have reduced the deficit early in the second half, Dier heading Perisic’s corner straight at Alisson and Perisic then flicking Sessegnon’s cut-back onto the bar. Sessegnon flashed another effort wide but Salah squandered a good chance to put the game to bed when he fired straight at Lloris in the 53rd minute.

Dejan Kulusevski’s entrance midway through the half was met with huge cheers after 11 games out with a hamstring issue.

Within a minute, Kulusevski passed into Kane, who rifled home first-time for his 12th goal of the campaign.

Clement Lenglet and Rodrigo Bentancur failed to score with headers from good positions and Bentancur just failed to get on the end of Kane’s flick as Liverpool just about held on.

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