Liverpool Recovers from Early Concession to Beat Tottenham
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) – Mohamed Salah completed the recovery after Liverpool conceded in the first minute against Tottenham on Sunday, clinching a 2-1 victory from the penalty spot and restoring a six-point Premier League lead.
Salah's 75th-minute winner - after Serge Aurier clumsily clipped Sadio Mane - was the striker's eighth goal of the title chase.
But Liverpool's equalizer had come from the less likely source of Jordan Henderson who netted for the first time at Anfield in four years in the 52nd minute.
The England vice captain canceled out the opener from England captain Harry Kane who took only 47 seconds to send Tottenham into a shock lead after a lackluster start to the season for the 10th-place London club.
It was a reverse of the last meeting between Tottenham and Liverpool in June in the Champions League final, when Salah netted an early penalty.
Liverpool's breakthrough on its way to a sixth European Cup came when Mousa Sissoko handled after 22 seconds to concede a penalty in Madrid. Redemption came after 148 days for the French midfielder, and almost as quickly.
Launching a counterattack after 30 seconds, Sissoko's surging run left a trail of red shirts in his wake before he picked out Son Heung-min on the left wing.
The South Korea forward brushed past Henderson before his shot hit the bar, helped by a deflection off Dejan Lovren.
Kane was primed to connect with the rebound, sending a stooping header past Alisson Becker with only 47 seconds on the clock.
It was something of a rarity: No opposition player has scored here in the league in the first minute of a game this century.
As Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino shuffles the defense and midfield from game to game, Kane seems the one certainty to start. So too, for now, Paulo Gazzaniga, with first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris out until the new year with an elbow injury.
The understudy more than lived up to the task.
There was a double save to deny Salah and Roberto Firmino before getting a fingertip to Virgil van Dijk's header.
Not even the power of Trent Alexander-Arnold's shot from outside the penalty area was enough to find a way past Gazzaniga approaching the half hour.
He was proving a frustrating barrier to the equalizer, scrambling away Firmino's header and then Lovren's attempt from the resulting corner at the start of the second half.
Having swarmed Tottenham since conceding in the first minute, Liverpool switched off again to allow Son to embark on a counterattack.
Rounding Alisson, Son reached a tight angle and could only hit the crossbar.
How costly it proved.
Danny Rose failed to clear the ball and then only helped Fabinho's cross onto the unmarked Henderson, who volleyed the ball past the Tottenham left back into the net.
Gazzaniga was finally beaten, and he was again by Salah's penalty after Aurier dispossessed Mane before fouling the Senegal forward as he tried to clear.
With Kane having a header blocked with almost the final move of the game, Tottenham was left with only 12 points from 10 points in Pochettino's worst start since taking charge in 2014.
Liverpool, which was held by Manchester United last weekend, has 28 points from a possible 30 as it chases a first title since 1990. Jurgen Klopp's side is six points ahead of Manchester City ahead of the second-place champions' visit to Anfield in two weeks.
