Luis Suarez led the team out with the responsibilities of the captain’s armband. It is a big game for us today and we need our star man to step up to the occasion. Liverpool began the game well, giving as good as they got in terms of possession and passing. Tottenham got forward on occasion but it was Liverpool that looked more dangerous in attacking positions. The lack of Gerrard seemed to be made up with Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen both getting into advanced positions. Sterling won a good free kick on the side of the box but unfortunately Philippe Coutinho could do little with it. Luis Suarez almost drew a penalty claim but managed to keep playing on and gained a corner instead. In the eighteenth minute our perseverance paid off and surprise surprise it was Suarez on the scoresheet yet again. Jordan Henderson put a good through ball into Luis, who with remarkable individual brilliance, weaved his way around the Spurs defence and casually placed the ball beyond the keeper into the corner of the net. 1-0 and it is fair to say that Suarez is unstoppable.
Shortly afterwards, the keeper Hugo Lloris made some amends for the goal by getting off his line well to deny Joe Allen from getting in on goal. Roberto Soldado in attack for Tottenham looked the principal source of goals for Spurs yet our central defenders (retained from the West Ham game), Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho, had him well in their pockets. Michael Dawson, the Tottenham skipper, made a cynical challenge on a breaking Jordan Henderson and got himself into the ref’s book with a caution. In the ensuing attack Philippe Coutinho hit a messy volley which bounced around and came off the crossbar. Glen Johnson’s follow up was clipped wide. Tottenham were forced into a personnel change, Lewis Holtby coming on for Sandro, who limped off. Nacer Chadli climbed up to head a corner for Spurs’ best opportunity. At the other end, confusion allowed Luis Suarez to have a good chance on goal and what seemed a certainty was stopped. It was very out of character for our man not to score…
Liverpool were really dominating possession and were far more incisive. Any chances Spurs had in front of goal were messy and quite easily cut out. A rare defensive slip allowed Lewis Holtby to have an attempt but he snatched at it and it was in vain. Jordan Henderson, who was playing very well, made another driving run at the defence and unluckily had his shot beaten away by Lloris. Suarez pounced on the rebound and again Lloris parried, but third time lucky Henderson remained calm and coolly volleyed into the net for Liverpool’s second.
Soldado at the other end was showing that at least he hadn’t given up. Sakho messily forced Mignolet into making an error and Soldado pounced but was deemed to have shoulder-barged the Reds keeper too strongly. Half time came and Liverpool go in two goals to the good. With Spurs struggling to score this season, let’s hope that we can hold it together defensively and that the two goals will be enough for all three points. Liverpool are deservedly ahead and it has been a good first 45 minutes of football.
Tottenham made a half time change bringing on Zeki Fryers for Kyle Naughton at left-back. With two substitutions already gone, it leaves Andre Villas-Boas with few options to change the flow of the game with impact substitutions later on. The second half kicked off and Roberto Soldado wasted a good opportunity, failing to work Simon Mignolet properly in the Liverpool goal. Liverpool resumed their dominance and after Raheem Sterling excellently set the ball up with a dinky cross, Mamadou Sakho rose and was very unfortunate to hit the post with his header. Martin Skrtel shot wide with the follow up ball. It was a great opportunity to kill the game off. One more goal should seal the victory.
Spurs were, of sorts, fighting back in the second half and had more possession. Villas-Boas made his tactical move bringing on Andros Townsend for Moussa Dembele. However, Spurs fightback suffered a real setback when a late challenge on Luis Suarez from Paulinho saw the Brazilian get a straight sending off. More alarmingly was the way Luis grimaced. We can certainly do without any more key injuries. Holtby soon after fouled Joe Allen and ended up in the book also.
Liverpool started to make the extra man tell and Suarez continued to cut through the Tottenham defence like butter. The final killer blow came at the 75 minute mark. Henderson, taking the ball towards the corner, did a lovely nutmeg back heel for the ball to be crossed into an arriving Jon Flanagan who, from the left of the box slammed the ball, with a striker’s composure into the top of the bar from where it bounced into the back of the net. it was the young defender’s first goal for the club and the celebrations from relieved teammates showed how proud they all were.
Lucas Leiva was allowed a break and made way to be replaced by Luis Alberto. The fight had gone out of Tottenham. Liverpool kept them pinned back and pinged passes around with ease. Raheem Sterling made a good break but his lack of control at the critical moment let Spurs off the hook. Luis as one might imagine, had not quite had enough in this game. His second came with a nice dink over a rushing Lloris to get a brace. I think that talk of him as Ballon D’Or material is not wide of the mark. He most certainly is likely to gain a few awards this year. I just hope he doesn’t get too much better or we will face a struggle to retain his services next year.
Suarez became provider next, putting Raheem Sterling through on goal with a lovely through ball. The youngster, who had probably had his best performance so far this season deserved to get on the scoresheet and didn’t disappoint, slotting the ball cleanly home.
In the final few minutes the home supporters headed for the turnstiles. Liverpool songs reverberated around White Hart Lane. We had converted this away fixture into a home one. Spurs have had poor home form and to be honest the 5-0 scoreline was flattering and surprised me. Tottenham are a side who are contenders for a top four finish and today we left a big dent in these aspirations. We totally dominated them with a supreme team performance. Tactically Brendan Rodgers has to take credit. We are in the midst of an injury crisis and he has prepared the team well to show good spirit and confidence. In six years we have lost all our games at White Hart Lane. We have put that statistic to bed and the 5-0 victory reasserts our position in second in the league with Arsenal only two points ahead now. Three more tricky fixtures to go over Christmas but we are a form side that will trouble anyone at present. Today was a day that exceeded all expectations.
Man Of The Match: Jordan Henderson. A good team performance with plenty of contenders for man of the match. Jordan Henderson, however, stood out. He filled the void of missing captain Steven Gerrard and was the link man between the midfield and attack. He was involved in several of the goals and of course bagged one himself. A top performance and the watching England manager, Roy Hodgson, must surely be considering the young man for next summer’s World Cup.