Key events
52 min I can’t remember the last time Liverpool crossed the halfway line. This has been Spurs’ best spell of the game by a mile.
51 min: Another fine save from Alisson! Maddison’s through pass to Son was cut out, but the ball deflected to Udogie. He knocked it into Son, who chested the ball down on the edge of the area and swished a spectacular volley towards goal. Alisson reacted superbly to push it over the bar with both hands.
49 min: Lovely save from Alisson! Spurs have made an excellent start to the second half. Maddison shapes a sweet left-footed curler from 22 yards, and Alisson dives full-length to his right to fingertip it round the post. He’s pure class.
47 min “The red can be debated,” says Paul Griffin, “but the ‘offside’ is clearly on with the naked eye. A Venetian blind, in Danny Blind’s front room, purchased via a blind trust, humming Tom Waits’s Blind Love, could see that.”
46 min Peep peep! The second half is under way, with Diogo Jota on for Cody Gakpo.
Incidentally, Sky say they haven’t received an image of the Diaz disallowed goal that includes the offside lines. There’s one angle from which he looks well onside, although they can often be deceptive. For example, John Stones’ goal against Arsenal in the title decider last season looked offside to the naked eye but was given.
“Greetings from Vietnam,” says Phil Keegan. “I am a Man U fan (pretty depressing right now) so obviously eff Liverpool, but I think Jones was unlucky. He played the ball and his foot slipped over the top of the ball and caught the Spurs player. There was no intention at all. That did not deserve a red.”
I might be wrong but I don’t think the law considers intent; it’s all about whether it endangers the safety of an opponent. Whether it should is a different argument.
“Next time I’m up in court for GBH, I’ll get my brief to put forward the ‘Neville defence’,” writes Simon McMahon. “I didn’t mean no harm, your honour, and didn’t intentionally set out to give the defendant a doing. It just kind of happened. Him being a Dundee fan and all that.”
A few of you have also queried Diaz’s disallowed goal in the 34th minute. From some angles he looks onside, from others clearly off. I haven’t a clue anymore. The only thing I’m certain about is that offside technology is 100 per cent reliable.
“I get it probably was a red,” says Nick Smith, “but was it such a clear error by the ref to give it a yellow that VAR got involved?”
I think it was. Whenever studs make contact above the ankle, causing the other player’s leg to bend, everyone gets twitchy. But it is notable that a lot of current and ex-players, including Andros Townsend on Sky Sports, think Jones was unlucky.
I’m not sure Gakpo will be back on, by the way. He was limping as he walked down the tunnel. Liverpool have loads of options on the bench – Nunez, Elliott, Jota, even Alexander-Arnold.
Half time: Tottenham 1-1 Liverpool
Peep peep! Intriguing stuff in north London. Curtis Jones was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Yves Bissouma, and Liverpool were in big trouble when Son finished off a lovely move to put Spurs ahead. But this new Liverpool team don’t seem to understand the concept of the lost cause: Cody Gakpo scored a good equaliser, injuring himself in the process, and Luis Diaz almost put them ahead on the stroke of half-time.
45+8 min: Great chance for Diaz! Salah wanders over to the left and slides a sensational angled pass towards Diaz at the far post. He gets the wrong side of Van de Ven but doesn’t make proper contact and slides the ball wide.
45+7 min Romero has a shot blocked. Incidentally, the email split is about 50/50 on whether Jones deserved to be sent off.
45+6 min Gakpo might be okay. He went down holding his leg as soon as he scored, but he’s jogging on the touchline as I type.
Cody Gakpo has injured himself in the act of scoring. It was a really smart finished, rapped past Vicario on the turn. Szoboszlai’s deep cross was headed back across goal by Van Dijk towards Gakpo. His chest control wasn’t great, which made the finish even better; he swivelled and bulleted it past Vicario from 10 yards.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-1 Liverpool (Gakpo 45+5)
Ten-man Liverpool have done it again!
45+4 min And now Udogie is booked for a coul on Gakpo. He got the ball but he might have been penalised for his follow through.
45+4 min “To misuse a phrase, pundits may think they know the game, but they don’t know the laws and how they’re applied,” says Andy Flintoff. “That from Jones was uncontrolled, over the top of the ball, so the referee had no other option once he’d seen the replay. And (whilst I’m on my high horse), referees don’t ruin the game by giving out cards, it’s the players committing the foul play that ruin it for themselves.”
45+3 min Sarr shoots well wide from 30 yards.
45 min Six minutes of added time. Spurs break from a Liverpool corner, but Son picks the wrong option for once. He curls straight at Alisson from miles out rather than trying to find Maddison in the middle.
On reflection, it might have been an overhit pass/cross. Either way, fine human being that is, Son puts his hand up in apology.
44 min “Not necessarily disputing the red,” says Dan Christmas, “but surely the point of the VAR monitor isn’t, ‘Here is why you should change your mind ref.’ Show them all the angles, and don’t use stills unless it’s the only way to see the incident.”
Oh yes I totally agree. Showing things in slow-motion has always been a problem, particularly in that Covid season when they were giving penalties for everything.
43 min Spurs will be conscious of what happened to Newcastle in very similar circumstances last month, and thus keen to put the game to bed if possible. They’re having a really good spell now, and Richarlison has just hit the post. The flag went up subsequently, I think because Udogie was in Alisson’s eyeline when Richarlison hit the shot.
42 min “I know it goes against ideas of justice and culpability,” says Gary Naylor, “but the law on serious foul play speaks to an outcome only. ‘A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent…’. It appears inarguable that Bissouma’s safety was endangered by studs into the leg above the ankle, notwithstanding intention, foot skimming off the ball, a ‘doing’. What is the alternative? Ten like that every game?”
41 min Richarlison is looking pretty lively. After another good Spurs break, he scoops a shot that is saved above his head by Alisson. A comfortable enough save.
40 min Mac Allister is booked for a foul on Udogie, who was leading a dangerous Spurs break.
39 min Gomez goes over in the area after a clumsy challenge from Van de Ven. There were no real claim for a penalty, which is a bit of a surprise. Gomez definitely got to the ball first. I think Van de Ven got a very slight touch a split-second later, though I’d like to see it again to be sure.
38 min “The refs have a hard enough job without pundits getting on like that and saying he’s ruined the game for giving a legitimate red card,” writes Samuel Campbell. “Neville stopped playing more than 10 years ago. What he did or what decisions were given when he was playing is irrelevant.”
What a fine team goal. Maddison dropped deep to collect, turned and slid a gorgeous pass inside Gomez. Richarlison timed his run perfectly and flicked an insouciant first-time cross towards Son, who got between Matip and Van Dijk to score. Sheer delightful football from Tottenham.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool (Son 36)
Lads, it’s Tottenham.
35 min “It seems like (and I’m a Norwich fan so I have no skin in the game) that whoever was in charge of the monitor was pretty keen for the referee to change his mind,” says Dan Christmas. “It was on a still frame of the studs in the shin when he initially went over, which is no use to anyone – you can hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa in a still frame…”
I’m surprised how many people are disputing the decision. In 2023 that feels like a fairly straightforward red card. Whether it should be is a different matter, and I do understand Gary Neville’s point – especially when there’s the added complication of Jones’s foot slipping.
34 min: No goal It was fractionally offside.
34 min: Diaz has a goal disallowed! It was beautifully taken, clipped across Vicario on the run, and it will be checked. I think he’s onside you know.
33 min: Chance for Richarlison! Spurs work the ball neatly on the edge of the area: Maddison to Kulusevski and across to Richarlison, who wafts over the bar with his left foot. That was a pretty good chance.
31 min Here’s the tackle that led to Curtis Jones being sent off.
30 min Maddison plays a one-two with Porro, shifts the ball onto his left foot and guides a curler towards the far corner. Alisson springs to his right to not only save the ball but also hold it, Bruce Grobbelaar-style.
29 min Liverpool have switched to a 4-4-1, with Gakpo on the right and Salah up front. They’re back at St James’ Park, and they’ve got the big man on the bench again today.
28 min Jones definitely wasn’t trying to do Bissouma. I suppose the pertinent question is whether he endangered Bissouma’s safety; I think he did, even if he was unlucky that his foot slipped off the top of the ball.
Curtis Jones is sent off!
He laughs wryly as he walks off, and is consoled by James Maddison. “I might be wrong, I’m less sure than I’ve ever been,” says Gary Neville on Sky, “but as an ex-player I don’t think he was trying to do Bissouma.”
26 min Gary Neville is pleading that it looks worse than it is. Even so, I think he’ll be sent off here – his studs went into Bissouma’s leg.
25 min Jones won the ball and then his foot slipped into the shin of Bissouma. Simon Hooper is going to the monitor.
24 min Jones is booked for a studs-up lunge on Bissouma. It’s being checked by VAR for a possible red card. I think he’s in big trouble here.
