Full time: Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Peep peep! Liverpool end their poor run of form with an emphatic victory. Spurs were abysmal but that shouldn’t detract from a storming start to the match from Liverpool. Sadio Mane scored twice in three minutes to give them a lead they never looked like losing. They were absolutely superb in that first half an hour. Thanks for your company, see you in court.
Updated
90+2 min Mane is brought off so that he can get a deserved ovation, and a big sloppy hug from Jurgen Klopp. Trent Alexander-Arnold replaces him. Mane was electric in the first half and settled the match.
Updated
90 min Walker accidentally drags his studs across the head of Lallana. He’s fine. Four minutes of added time.
88 min Lloris comes miles out of his area and is in no man’s land when Wijnaldum tries to lob him from 50 yards. He makes a mess of that but then Davies and Lloris almost contrive to score an own-goal between them.
86 min Tottenham have had a really bad night. Their defeat confirms - if it was in any doubt - that Chelsea are the champions.
83 min Alderweireld ends a thrilling Liverpool counter-attack with a deliberate and necessary foul on Firmino just outside the box. He’s booked.
82 min Lucas has pulled something and leaves the field to be replaced by Klavan. Spurs bring on Janssen for Son.
Updated
80 min The second half has been a non-event.
Updated
78 min Dier is booked for a foul on Can, the seventh yellow card of the match.
77 min Another change for Spurs: Moussa for Moussa, Sissoko for Dembele. And Liverpool bring on Emre Can for Coutinho.
71 min The resulting free-kick, swung in beautifully by Milner, finds Matip eight yards out - but he mistimes his attempted header and it loops off his shoulder into the arms of Lloris.
Updated
71 min Told you there would be yellow cards. Winks is the latest to be booked for a sliding tackle on Milner. He did pull out but by then Milner had leapt out of the way and that was enough for the referee to book him.
70 min “Leaping barge from Milner there,” says Anthony Cook. Nah, it was more of an elbow from the top rope.
69 min “Can you tell your correspondent (58 mins) that the reason Klopp picks Lallana is that he happens to be one of the few outfielders who prefers using his left foot,” says Graeme Thorn. “ Seriously, the back foot are all right-footers, the forward line is all right-footers, which leaves Henderson (right-footed), Wijnaldum (I’m not sure) and Lallana, who can use both but prefers his left.”
68 min Milner is booked for a flying shoulder barge on Kane.
68 min A change for Spurs: Harry Winks replaces the unusually ineffective Christian Eriksen.
Updated
66 min The game is going nowhere at the moment. Liverpool lack the pizazz of the first half but they have done their attacking work. Spurs have offered nothing except a hint of aggro. Talking of which, Kane is booked for a filthy lunge at Clyne.
64 min If it stays like this there will be two points separating Spurs in second and Manchester United in sixth. Chelsea have ruined one of the great title races, the swines.
63 min In terms of their long-term development, this is becoming a worry for Spurs. There is so much to love about them but their performances today and at both Manchester clubs have been weirdly poor.
Updated
61 min Alli brazenly shoves Mane over from behind. He’s looking for trouble at the moment.
Updated
60 min “wasnt (sic) a filthy (sic) hack from Matip, a mistimed lunge more like,” writes my personal sub-editor Anthony Cook.
59 min Eriksen is penalised for a foul throw. Lads, it’s Tottenham.
58 min “Klopp knows more about footy than I do,” says Mark Turner. “Klopp keeps picking Lallana in the starting eleven. I have a lot of trouble reconciling those two facts.”
57 min Liverpool have dropped off a bit, both tactically and physically, which will give Spurs a smidgen of hope. It’s about all they deserve for their performance so far.
56 min: DISALLOWED GOAL Eriksen’s free-kick is steered onto the post by the offside Kane, with Dier scoring from the follow-up. There are no complaints and replays show it was the right decision.
56 min Matip is booked for a filthy hack at Eriksen.
Updated
54 min After giving another free-kick, Anthony Taylor exhales with the weary look of a man who knows he’ll be showing a few yellow cards this half.
Updated
52 min Henderson is booked for a foul on Alli which prompts a bit of a shoving match between Wanyama and Lallana.
50 min It’s been an excellent start to the half from Liverpool. Alli is getting frustrated and is lucky to get away with a clear shove on Firmino.
47 min “I don’t want to over-simplify That January, there are always plenty of factors,” says Matt Dony. “But, my word Liverpool missed Mane.”
46 min Peep peep! Spurs begin the second half, kicking from right to left. The main thing that will give them hope is that they were equally bad and 2-0 down at Manchester City before drawing that match.
“The Barry Horne 1994 stuff is all in my head, Rob,” says Gary Naylor, “as fresh as the day he decided to have a go, and the shot hit the back of the net - otherwise I think it would have hit me right in the coupon. Literally, unforgettable stuff.”
That’s so true. We’ve become a society that confuses memory and posterity, but there are some the camera will never capture.
Half-time chit-chat
“This is the worst first half from Spurs I can remember since Poch took over,” says Alistair Donegan. “Ben Davies’ performance is turning my hangover up from a 7 to a 9. Mcmanaman’s inane crowing just nudged it to 9.5.”
“I’m happy with the reaction from Liverpool in this match,” says Joseph Talbot, “but why is it five weeks late?”
A little thing called the human condition. (And the Africa Cup of Nations.)
Half time: Liverpool 2-0 Spurs (Mane 2)
The scoreline flatters one team but it’s not Liverpool. They were exhilarating, Spurs were Dierbolical. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
43 min “You may wish to pawn your “Saves Galore 1988-89”,” says Gary Naylor, “but I’m keeping my highlights video of Everton’s 1993-94 season, “100 Golden Throw-ins” and the souvenir DVD of our 2005-6 Champions League campaign, “Two Nights in August”.”
Do you keep that 1994 classic Barry Horne Porn in an unmarked video case?
42 min Coutinho swings a corner in from the right. Dier is having a cup of coffee at the far post and Lucas gets above him to head over the bar. He migt have done better.
40 min Spurs look much better going forward now, but Liverpool look like creating a chance with every attack. It’s been a weirdly open half.
37 min Build your income daily! Earning money online has never been faster or easier! Email rob.smyth@theguardian.com.
36 min Liverpool did something interesting on that Spurs free-kick. Coutinho was down on one knee with his body spread to stop Eriksen driving it under the wall. Very cute.
35 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “It looks as if Klopp’s pre-match pep talk was a simple: ‘Jungs, es ist Tottenham’.”
34 min Son is fouled right outside the area by Milner. The free-kick is just to the right of centre, perfect for Eriksen to whip it to the far corner. That’s exactly what he does and it flies onto the roof of the net. Mignolet had it covered.
33 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “It looks as if Klopp’s pre-match pep talk was a simple: ‘Jungs, es ist Tottenham’.”
