Five takeaways from nine-man Liverpool's last-gasp defeat to Tottenham
FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Liverpool saw their 19-match unbeaten run come to an end at the hands of Tottenham on Saturday.
The Reds were reduced to nine men in north London with dismissals in either half — Curtis Jones for a high challenge on Yves Bissouma and Diogo Jota for two fouls in quick succession on Destiny Udogie.
Son Heung-min broke the deadlock shortly after Liverpool's first red card, only for Cody Gakpo to equalise on the stroke of half-time.
After Jota's sending off, Jurgen Klopp battened down the hatches and his men defended with admirable resolution, only for Joel Matip to divert a teasing cross from Pedro Porro into his own net.
Here's what we learned from this thrilling encounter...
Few teams will lose with virtually the final kick of the game and come away feeling like they are the real deal.
Liverpool are heading back to the top and their showing at Spurs was proof of their mental fortitude. They had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside and the first red card will continue to be disputed.
Klopp was criticised a lot last season for Liverpool's lazy and arrogant defending, but they proved here they can still switch their mindset and actually care about it.
So many red cards already this season could be a sign of streaky ill-discipline — they're the only ones standing in their way from contention again.
Despite beating another 'big six' side at home — and taking seven points from nine in games against them this term — Tottenham put in their worst performance of the season.
Yeah, sure, there's a certain amount of strength you need in order to win while not playing well, but Spurs struggled to break down Liverpool when they put all their eggs in the defending basket.
But that should be expected. Tottenham's
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