Spurs leave it late but finally break nine-man Liverpool
Tottenham (1) 2 Son 36, Matip og 90+6
Liverpool (1) 1 Gakpo 45+4
It looked like they weren't quite going to do it. But the extra two men they had for the final 20 minutes finally told as Spurs secured a win in the last minute of stoppage time.
In truth, it had been a brilliant effort from the visitors to hold out, considering they had played with 10 men from the 25th minute, but in a final despairing move - Pedro Porro's drilled cross from the right was turned into his own net by a distraught Joel Matip.
It means Spurs remain unbeaten after seven games and they have already answered questions about just how competitive they are going to be this season. Following on from clawing a draw at Arsenal, they are very much looking the part.
So too is Heung-Min Son. So out of sorts last season but on fire again, despite having to forge new partnerships now that Harry Kane has left.
He picked up where he left off in last week's North London derby - stealing in at the near post to put away a low cross from Richarlison as Spurs cashed in on a one-man advantage.
The goal came just 11 minutes after Liverpool had been reduced to 10 men when an ugly-looking lunge from Curtis Jones on Yves Bissouma saw the midfielder sent off by ref Simon Hooper following a nudge from VAR.
The official had originally brandished a yellow but replays showed Jones' studs riding over the top of the ball and into Bissouma's shins.
The goal came moments after Luis Diaz had scampered onto a brilliant flicked pass from Mo Salah and finished with an angled shot into the net - only for a linesman's flag to come to the rescue. Replays suggested it was onside. Everything was going Spurs' way.
Well, almost. Richarlison was revelling in a wide-left role and pinged a shot off the far post and before the half was out, it was all-square.
Results before kick-off provided the perfect backdrop for this game. An open invitation to be ambitious.
It's not often Man City drop points by drawing, let alone by losing, so their defeat at Wolves was something both of these hitherto unbeaten and in-form sides wanted to make the most of.
And the early passages of play suggested it might be Liverpool. One brilliant crossfield ball from Dominik Szoboszlai to Diaz had Spurs in a panic and it needed a fine double save from Guglielmo Vicario to deny Gakpo and Andy Robertson in quick succession. Only a lunge from Pape Matar Sarr deflected a Gakpo shot wide.
Against the odds, the visitors drew level in first-half stoppage time when Virgil van Dijk headed a cross back into the danger zone and Gapko twisted around with Micky van de Ven breathing down his neck before turning to fire home powerfully.
He hurt himself in scoring and went off at the break - the game the poorer for the silky Dutchman's absence, but an undoubted plus for Ange Postecoglou's team.
Attacking the massed ranks of the south stand after the break, Spurs fancied their chances. James Maddison, who had a hand in the first half goal with his pass out to Richarlison, bent a left-footer that was creeping inside the far post, until Alisson stretched to tip aside.
The Brazilian keeper then had to reach up to send a Son volley skywards.
But the keeper's heroic display alone looked like it probably would not be enough once Jurgen Klopp's men were reduced to nine men with 20 minutes still to play and so it finally proved.
Jota picked up two yellow cards within a minute for fouls on Destiny Udogie - first to break up a counter-attack, then in a rash attempt to stop the defender scampering away from him.
Klopp went 5-3-0 and took off all his strikers in a bid to eke out a point and with the superb Alisson in such dazzling form, anything looked possible.
Yet Spurs kept at it. They struggled for openings but made one at the death to steal the narrative.
It prompted an airing over the PA of Robbie Williams' Angels at full-time - a reflection of the new-found love-affair with their new boss. Conte? They're loving Ange instead.
Spurs: (4-2-1-3) Vicario - Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie (Davies 83) - Sarr (Skipp 83), Bissouma (Hojbjerg 90) - Kulusevski, Maddison (Veliz 90), Son (Solomon 68) - Richarlison
Reds: (4-3-3) Alisson - Gomez (Konate 73), Matip, van Dijk, Robertson - Szoboszlai, Mac Allister (Gravenberch 80), Jones - Salah (Alexander-Arnold 73), Gakpo (Jota h/t), Diaz (Endo 73)
Attendance: 62,001
