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Tottenham’s toothless night against Liverpool sums up their grim reality
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- Tottenham’s toothless night against Liverpool sums up their grim reality
A few years ago, Liverpool were mocked for adopting a slogan of "this means more". In a match that surely meant more to Tottenham than them, Liverpool nevertheless won emphatically. It sums up the realities of the two clubs. Tottenham , desperate for a first trophy since 2008, abandoned the principles of Angeball to try and protect their first-leg lead and failed. Liverpool, with far greater priorities, nonetheless booked a final date with Newcastle as Cody Gakpo , Mohamed Salah , Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk struck. They ran riot without really needing to. "Reaching a final should always be special, even for this club," said Arne Slot . Yet his initial, one-word reaction, rather summed it up. "Pleasant," he smiled.
Slot's first silverware in England could come in the Carabao Cup. Ange Postecoglou , the man who has been adamant that he always wins something in his second season, now has one route to glory closed off. If Tottenham's season is to be saved, it must be in the FA Cup or the Europa League. "We had a great opportunity, but unfortunately we didn't grab it," lamented Postecoglou. Spurs' fans had begun the night singing about going to Wembley: they will instead head to the homelier surroundings of Craven Cottage on 16 March.
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Tottenham remain one of only three teams to beat Slot's side, courtesy of the first leg, and injuries remain a mitigating factor, but this was one-sided. Liverpool have won a second leg 4-0 at Anfield before – just ask Barcelona – but this was less momentous. It was, though, very professional. "That mentality we showed from the first second to last," said Slot. Tottenham lacked such belief. By the final half-hour, they were trailing on aggregate, their initial gameplan rendered redundant. They lacked a response. The score just got worse. "We were way too passive," Postecoglou said.
It is not often Postecoglou's Spurs are accused of being too defensive. Those were not their instructions, their manager insisted. "Our intent was to go out and play the same way we play every week," said the Australian. But perhaps scarred by December's 6-3 demolition, this felt like a rare time when Spurs played for a 0-0 draw. It is an understatement to say they didn't get one. They had the worst of both worlds: conceding plenty, rarely hinting at scoring one. Ultimately, they were too limp, too meek. "We didn't really give ourselves a chance with the performance," Postecoglou admitted. "We were not able to get a grip of the game."
Defiant at the start, they had capitulated by the end. The deadline-day signing Kevin Danso was parachuted into a new-look centre-back partnership with Ben Davies . Initially, they acquitted themselves well, aided by plenty of protection. Yet pressure was building even before Gakpo struck, with an offside Szoboszlai having a goal chalked off.
Cody Gakpo scored the opening goal of the game as Liverpool exerted plenty of pressure on Spurs (Nick Potts/PA Wire)
Mo Salah converted from the penalty spot to give Liverpool the lead in this tie (REUTERS)
Then Salah bent in a cross with the outside of his left boot. With Tottenham perhaps distracted by Darwin Nunez 's attempt at an overhead kick, it reached Gakpo at the far post. The Dutchman has now scored in his last seven appearances at Anfield; Salah's form can obscure how prolific he is and Gakpo was the game's outstanding performer. "Cody is having a special season, but it doesn't just fall out of the sky," said Slot. When a Gakpo flew through the sky, he was inches from a second, hitting the post from an acute angle, with Antonin Kinsky doing well to get a touch.
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For the Czech goalkeeper, a first meeting with Liverpool had been a dream debut, with a clean sheet and a win a few days after signing. A reunion was less enjoyable. Kinsky had saved well from Salah when tipping a volley over the bar. Yet he was culpable when conceding a penalty: Salah's pass was weighed perfectly to invite the goalkeeper out while allowing Nunez to get the first touch. Salah lifted the spot kick into the roof of the net for his seventh goal in as many games against Spurs.
No sooner had he departed than Liverpool scored a third goal. Ryan Gravenberch had just emulated Gakpo by hitting the post when Alexis Mac Allister , just off the bench, and Conor Bradley combined to release Szoboszlai. He slotted past Kinsky.
Dominik Szoboszlai added a third to give Liverpool a cushion (REUTERS)
Virgil van Dijk's late header secured Liverpool's place at in the Carabao Cup final (REUTERS)
Then Van Dijk, the scorer of the winner in last year's final, evaded Davies to head in Mac Allister's corner. His night had begun by catching Richarlison with his elbow. No further action was taken – Liverpool may have deemed it poetic justice after Lucas Bergvall got the first-leg winner when they thought he should have been sent off - and Richarlison's theatrics meant he received little sympathy from the majority when he hobbled off before half-time, his calf injury meaning a debut for Mathys Tel . With both other senior strikers now sidelined, it at least made it more important Tottenham signed the teenager from Bayern Munich .
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But, with Tel anonymous, they lacked a threat. Their first shot came after 41 minutes, from Dejan Kulusevski . It was wide and wild. Heung-Min Son hit the bar, but only when they were 3-0 down. Tottenham failed to even register a shot on target. It scarcely mattered that Alisson was missing. But then he didn't play in the 2022 and 2024 finals and Liverpool won them both. It is the sort of record Tottenham can only envy.
