If you’re a glass-half-full kind of Tottenham Hotspur fan then there were small crumbs of comfort to take away from their third round Carabao Cup defeat at Liverpool.
For one, they actually scored a goal against a fellow top flight side for the first time this season. And, they were actually a genuine attacking threat – albeit that lasted far too briefly.
But the end result was still the same and they continue to scramble for any kind of positive result. Manager Roberto de Zerbi had mischievously talked up his side’s back-to-back clean sheet run in the build-up to this game although even that record was in tatters barely 20 minutes in to this game.
Liverpool, for their part, were impressive as their much-changed team – 10 alterations in total were made by Andoni Iraola – dominated for large proceedings. They made the breakthrough when Alexis Mac Allister finished off a fine team move with an expertly-placed side-footed finish from the edge of the box.
Prior to that there were green shoots for Tottenham, who had two decent chances to open the scoring only to find Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili in inspired form.
Lucas Bergvall was particularly lively and there were some impressive patches of play from the visitors, only for it to fall apart in the final third.
Liverpool doubled their lead just after half-time when Cody Gakpo – a summer target for Spurs – finished in style after being teed up by Mac Allister.
For a while that looked as though it would result in the game petering out with a two-goal buffer seemingly beyond the visitors. But then came an unexpected spark from Spurs, in part thanks to a familiar face returning to Anfield. Andy Robertson was one of two substitutes summoned by de Zerbi and his energy and tenacity seemed to rub off on his teammates and it wasn’t long before they halved the deficit.
Connor Gallagher nodded in from a yard out after a deep corner from fellow sub Mateus Fernandes and indecisiveness from Mamardashvili to make it 2-1. Omar Marmoush, who had toiled for most of the night, then almost equalised only to see a deflected shot excellently saved by Mamardashvili.
The game appeared evenly-poised at that point but then came a superb strike from Liverpool to kill the contest dead. It came from sub Dominik Szoboszlai who hit a stunning, long-range strike to ensure the Reds booked their spot in the last-16.
This exit from the cup for Spurs means their sole focus between now and the New Year is Premier League which is just as well, given they have yet to win or score in that competition. Despite their lavish summer outlay it does have the feeling of déjà vu for Tottenham, as they look to arrest a slide of back-to-back 17th-placed finishes.
Saturday sees them host Aston Villa which, even at this early juncture of the campaign, feels like a monumental six-pointer between two teams yet to muster a win and with just one goal scored combined. As for Liverpool, their final assignment before the international break sees Iraola take his new club to his old employers Bournemouth.
