Spirited finale from Frank's nine-man Spurs not enough to deny Liverpool the points

Seasonal offering : Picture by @YTJourno

Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur (0) 1 Richarlison 83 Simons s/o 32, Romero s/o 93

Liverpool (0) 2 Isak 56, Ekitike 66

Spurs crashed to a fifth home loss in nine home league games as they paid the price for a first-half red card for Xavi Simons.

It piles the pressure on Thomas Frank, who was booked protesting Liverpool's second goal, which arrived 10 minutes after the opening goal had further taken the wind out of Tottenham's sails.

There was drama at the end as Spurs, further reduced in number after Cristian Romero was given his marching orders, almost defied the odds to overcome a 2-0 deficit, but they had not shown enough in most of the preceding 80 minutes to expect a better result.

For all the signs of fight, the mitigation will only go so far in offsetting a troubling narrative for the hosts, who have now lost more home games since moving into their new stadium in 2017 (49) than Arsenal have since moving into the Emirates 11 years earlier.

The first setback came after half an hour when Xavi Simons trod on Virgil van Dijk's calf with enough to force the Dutchman to the turf and invoke a VAR check and a red card was the outcome.

Spurs fans were convinced of a grave injustice and gave referee John Brooks a hard time after that. When Djed Spence checked back inside Conor Bradley, their were howls of protests when nothing was given but the decision was correct.

Would Liverpool capitalise on the extra man advantage? Ryan Gravenberch found Florian Wirtz in the box and his swift low shot needed a good low save from Guglielmo Vicario.

Overall, though, it was a slow burner of an opening half, offering little in the way of pulsating goalmouth action. Randal Kolo Muani got on the end of Spence's header back across goal but it made little impression on Alisson in terms of pace or direction.

Arne Slot could afford to be more expansive and he brought on Alexander Isak for Bradley and it soon paid off when the Swede got on behind the Spurs defence to turn in a Florian Wirtz pass after Spurs had gifted possession in the final third.

The goal came at a price, though, as Micky van de Ven's attempted block with a scissor tackle caught Isak and twisted his ankle, meaning his contribution had to be cut short after only a quarter of an hour.

Spurs kept at it. In a breakaway, Kolo Muani's deflected angled shot came back off the underside of the bar. But soon after, Isak's replacement Jeremie Frimpong crossed for Hugo Ekitike to nod in a second - Cristian Romero earning a booking for protesting he had been shoved in the back by the goalscorer. Frank joined his captain in the ref's notebook for his complaints.

That should have been that, but late hope came when Richarlison, on as sub for Kolo Muani, swept in from close range after Liverpool failed to clear their lines at a corner and the Brazilian moments later raced onto a long pass and almost got a shot away past a covering Ibrahima Konate.

The bid to make ten minutes of injury time count were however hit by a piece of sheer stupidity from Romero, who kicked out at Konate after winning a free-kick. It was his second yellow and he had to go.

Even then, Pedro Porro sent a low free-kick and an angled shot at Alisson as the visitors wobbled. They were relieved to hold on when it should have been a stroll.

Spurs: (4-2-3-1) Vicario - Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Spence -Bentancur, Gray (Palhinha 71) - Kudus (Johnson 58), Bergvall (Odobert 71), Simons - Kolo Muiani (Richarlison 80)

Reds: (4-2-3-1) Alisson - Bradley (Isak h/t) (Frimpong 60) (Chiesa 90), Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez - Gravenberch, Jones - Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz (Nyoni 99) - Ekitike (Robertson 99)

Attendance: 61,138