Liverpool recover from early shock to beat Spurs

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool recovered from the shock of going behind after 48 seconds to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday and restore their six-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Jordan Henderson equalised after the break before Mo Salah tucked away a penalty to complete the comeback as Liverpool’s marauding start to the season continued.

Harry Kane’s stooping header after Son Heung-min’s deflected shot hit the crossbar had given Tottenham a dream start in their bid to win at Anfield for the first time in eight years.

Liverpool, who extended their unbeaten run at home in the Premier League to 45 matches, were denied by a string of superb saves by Tottenham keeper Paulo Gazzaniga before halftime.

Son almost put Spurs ahead with an angled shot against the crossbar early in the second half but it was mainly one-way traffic and Liverpool’s pressure eventually told as Henderson fired home a volley soon after — his first league goal at Anfield since December 2015.

Tottenham were hanging on but right back Serge Aurier’s clumsy tackle on Sadio Mane after 74 minutes gave Salah the chance to put Liverpool in front and he made no mistake.

Having fallen behind, Tottenham had a late flurry with Danny Rose blasting over the bar and Toby Alderweireld’s stoppage-time header going straight at Alisson Becker.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side, winless away from home in the league since January, slipped to their fourth league defeat of the season and are 11th in the table, eight points behind the Champions League places.

Liverpool have 28 points from 10 games to City’s 22 and are showing no sign of slackening the pace.

“Today we followed the plan with passion and emotion,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “We were in charge apart from the last five minutes. It was a super game, I loved it.”

Tottenham arrived after a confidence-boosting 5-0 win over Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday and continued where they left off in a superb start for the visitors.

Moussa Sissoko’s surging run released Son and when he cut in on his right foot his shot was deflected onto the woodwork by Dejan Lovren, falling to Kane who nudged home a low header.

Soon after Christian Eriksen, recalled to the Spurs starting lineup, fired a volley that Kane almost turned in at the far post but Liverpool responded as expected.

Gazzaniga made a superb double save to keep out Salah’s shot and the follow-up from Roberto Firmino.

He then tipped Virgil van Dijk’s header over before parrying a ferocious pile-driver by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The siege continued with Alexander-Arnold then crossing for Mane who missed the target with the goal gaping.

Liverpool had a let-off when Son skipped around Alisson but was denied by the crossbar. When Henderson struck an angled finish to finally beat Gazzaniga, there looked only one winner.

Aurier looked as though he had made a good defensive tackle but as he tried to clear the ball he only succeeded in booting the back of Mane’s leg for a clear penalty.