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José Mourinho accused Tottenham of not finishing the match, as Roberto Firmino’s latest winner saw Liverpool overtake them to first place in the Premier League.
The Spurs tied at halftime after Heung-Min Son scored a good equalizer on the fast break after Mohamed Salah’s first deflected goal, despite the Reds dominating possession.
But the Spurs kept going in the second half, creating a series of chances to secure a rare victory at Anfield when Steven Bergwijn rocked the post and Harry Kane headed from six yards.
Firmino then headed the winner in the 90th minute as Spurs lost a chance to leave a marker in the title race as Liverpool extended their unbeaten streak in the league at Anfield to 66 imperious games.
“I think even a draw would not have left us with the best taste because we had them there to win,” Mourinho said at his post-match press conference.
“It wasn’t just about the big occasions, it was the time for the big occasions. The moment was when they were in trouble, at their worst, and we had him there to kill him and we lost him.
“Normally, in games of this level, you pay [for] that. I thought we were going to pay [for] just taking a point, but in the end, we didn’t even take a point, so it’s very disappointing. “
2:59
FREE TO SEE: Highlights from Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham in the Premier League.
Mourinho added: “Looking at the performance, I am happy with the team. I am happy with our proposal, the proposal to go to all the matches to win it. Sometimes you can’t. Sometimes you can’t play better than for the opponent.
“Today, I really think, in such a difficult game against such a good team, the boys were very good, and they punish us.
“You have to kill games of this dimension; you just have to kill him. The game was there. We were in the goalkeeper’s face two or three times and you just have to kill him.
“Steven Bergwijn was face to face with the goalkeeper twice, we had the corner when Harry [Kane] We had the free header, we had other counterattack situations that we did not end. We had it, we knew how to hurt [them] and we should have done much better than we did. “
Sunday December 20 2:00 pm
Start 2:15 pm
The loss was the second of the season for Spurs, and the first since opening day against Everton, and they are now three points behind the champions after entering the table’s first meeting ahead on goal difference.
When asked how he would go about lifting his players ahead of Sunday’s trip to Leicester, live Sky sports – Mourinho said: “It is only to follow the same path. It is not because we win or lose here tonight that we are going to leave the path. The path is game after game.
“The way is to improve, the way is to prepare the future of this team better and better as other clubs do and as other coaches have time to do.
“We have a great game again on Sunday against one of the best teams and we have to keep going. Tomorrow we are there and we are going for Sunday.”
Klopp hails the reds ‘exceptional’
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Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool’s late win over Tottenham provides “a massive three points” as his team progresses to the top of the Premier League.
Liverpool’s late victory left manager Jurgen Klopp delighted with a performance reminiscent of many from last season, which earned him his first league title in 30 years.
“It has been a difficult period, a difficult period not only approaching, but we have already passed,” he said. “Playing a game like this tonight is absolutely exceptional.
“It was a first-rate match and we deserved three points against a first-rate team that, in terms of organization, is very difficult to face with the threat of counterattack they have. I really liked the game.
“We didn’t have too many occasions in the season where we had late moments. I have no problem starting again scoring late if necessary.
“Of course Tottenham had chances, they scored a goal with an incredibly tight offside decision. We really have no luck with these decisions at the moment. They had other opportunities: you can’t defend Kane, Son, Bergwijn for 90 minutes, the speed they have is incredible.
“But in those moments we were completely in charge of the game, we stayed focused and protected our attacks sensationally well, the counter pressure was good, the passing was good.
“Not all of our efforts led to a goal or a suitable opportunity because they were in the box and defended all the high balls. We needed to be creative and the guys were creative, they stayed creative and then they forced it.
“We forced the first goal a bit and the second with the set piece is very nice because we don’t have much time to work on things and that worked again.”
Klopp: Bobby scores goals!
Klopp hopes that Firmino’s crucial late goal will help the Brazilian in his efforts to ignore those who continue to question his effectiveness in front of goal.
“I hope he never doubts himself,” Klopp added. “In training he never seems to be, but there is so much talk about him that it’s almost as if people are surprised when he scores. He scores goals, important to us.
“For us, it’s not so much about who scores them, because the only important thing is that the ball is in the back of the net. The way we got there, there are some obvious things like passing the ball, crossing and finishing, but also racing to break through for these things.
“People don’t see that. It doesn’t surprise me that Bobby scores a goal, I’m happy for tonight because it was very important for us and for him, but more for us.”
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