Roberto Firmino was on target as Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 to claim their first Premier League win of 2021.
Totally different to their recent games, it was a dominant performance from Jurgen Klopp’s side as Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane all got on the score-sheet. It was further relief for the Reds as they also broke their ill-form of four league games without a goal.
Mane had the first chance of the game within mere minutes but saw his effort go just wide in what was a big miss.
Liverpool were punished for that miss as Son Heung-Min capitalized on a quick break and opened the scoring in the 3rd-minute. However, his goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
Firmino then scored for the visitors in stoppage time of the first half to end Liverpool’s woeful run of 482 minutes without finding the back of the net. The Brazilian forward scored his sixth Premier League goal of the season and would be one of the top names alongside teammate Alisson Becker in the running to win the latest edition of the all-popular Samba Gold award. The winner set to be announced in February.
Alexander-Arnold doubled Liverpool’s advantage minutes into the second half, before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg drew one back to score his first goal for Tottenham just a minute later.
With the game looking tense from both sides, Mane put the game beyond doubt for Liverpool as he rounded up the scoring and made it 3-1 in the 65th minute.
It was a bad day for Tottenham who also lost their talisman Harry Kane to an ankle injury. Despite the win, Liverpool also had a worry as they lost another defensive name in Joel Matip to injury.
The victory sees Liverpool move back to the top four with 37 points, four points behind leaders Manchester City, who has a game in hand. Tottenham stays in sixth place with 33 points and see their unbeaten run in the league come to an end.
Liverpool will be hoping to record another win at the weekend but it won’t be easy as they face an in-form West Ham side on Saturday. Elsewhere, Tottenham take on Brighton in their next game on Sunday.
