Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane struck a contentious 95th-minute penalty to deny Liverpool three points as the Lilywhites held the Reds to a 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday.
A Mohamed Salah goal in the 3rd minute had given the hosts the perfect start after a blunder from Eric Dier allowed the Egyptian to run uncontested on goal and beat Hugo Lloris with a well-disguised shot but Spurs would conjure a late rally, aided by some controversial officiating.
Loris Karius, continuing his run of starts at the expense of Simon Mignolet, could only get a weak punch to a Christian Eriksen cross and Victor Wanyama would put his foot through the ball as he blasted home an equaliser from well outside the box with 10 minutes left on the clock.
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Spurs had a golden chance to turn the tie on its head when Kane was controversially awarded a penalty in the 84th minute. Dele Alli played in Spurs’ front man, who was clearly offside, but Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren got a definite touch via a comical swipe at the ball to make the move legal.
As Kane rounded the onrushing Karius, the German custodian made contact and the striker promptly went down.
Match referee Jonathan Moss had a lengthy discussion with his linesman before awarding Spurs a penalty, one which Kane took, but somehow contrived to miss. His weak attempt down the middle was parried by Karius and Liverpool breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The Anfield crowd was riled by the officials decisions and urged their players to respond and they did, via the in-form Salah.
The Egyptian channeled his inner-Lionel Messi as he danced past Spurs defenders near the touch-line before calmly lifting the ball over the despairing Hugo Lloris in the 91st minute to seemingly give the hosts a massive win.
The drama for the day wasn’t done, however, as Spurs launched one final attack, Mauricio Pochettino’s men were rewarded for their persistence as they won a second penalty in the 94th minute.
Virgil van Dijk, restored to the lineup after missing the midweek win over Huddersfield Town, attempted to clear the ball but got a big chunk of Erik Lamela instead and as the Argentine crumped, Jonathan Moss pointed to the spot again.
This time, Kane stepped up and sent Karius the wrong way to register his 100th Premier League goal and perhaps more importantly, ensure Spurs didn’t lose on the night.
With the result, Liverpool remain in third place with a tally of 51 points from 26 games but could slip to fourth if Chelsea win their game in hand over Watford on Monday. Jurgen Klopp’s men next travel to St Mary’s Stadium to take on Southampton on February 11.
Spurs, with 49 points from 26 games, remain in contention and will take solace from the fact that they got a point in a game that at a late stage, looked like Liverpool’s to lose. The Lilywhites have the small matter of a North London Derby with Arsenal (on Saturday, February 11) to look forward to next.