Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool celebrates victory following the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 20, 2025 in London, England.placeholder image
Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool celebrates victory following the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 20, 2025 in London, England. | Getty Images
Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in North London in a contest that was filled with a number of contentious moments
It is rarely dull when Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur meet - and Saturday night’s contest in North London provided plenty of taking points as Arne Slot’s men emerged as 2-1 winners.
Xavi Simons was sent off in the first half for a rash challenge down the back of Virgil van Dijk’s calf. Liverpool made the most of their man advantage with goals from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.
However, there was a nervy ending for the Reds after ex-Everton man Richarlison came off the bench for Spurs and halved the deficit. The Reds managed to hold on - largely thanks to Cristian Romero kicking out at Ibrahima Konate and earning himself a second yellow card which reduced the home side to nine men.
Romero’s first yellow card came after he vehemently protested Ekitike’s goal. The centre-back went down as the Frenchman smartly headed home. The Spurs man was not awarded a foul and sprinted to referee John Brooks to complain about the decision. His protests earned him a booking.
Hugo Ekitike responds to goal v Tottenham
Asked about the incident, Ekitike said: "It's part for the game. he is a defender, I'm a striker. I judged the cross better than he did and I took the ball. That is why I scored. That is his opinion, my opinion is that it was a great cross, a lucky header, but I did the right thing."
On the game, Ekitike added: “It was very physical today. There were a lot of duels, but sometimes, it was bad. That wasn’t football. It was a bit too much, but that’s part of football. It was a great war and we won.”
Former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge agreed it was not a foul but ex-Reds and Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp felt it should have been a foul.
He said on Sky Sports: "I think it's a foul [in the build-up], I really do. I can't believe Romero hasn't got a free kick.
"The consequence of that is because he's furious because it's not bene given as a foul, he runs after the referee and you can't bump into the referee like that and gets himself a yellow card.
"It has a huge consequence later in the match."
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank also complained about the decision, he said: “Conceding the first goal and then there’s a massive mistake from John, the ref, on the pitch. It’s two hands in the back of Ekitike. I don’t understand how he can’t see it.
“But luckily, we have VAR so they will bail you out when you need it – but they didn’t and that was the second mistake.”
Liverpool now unbeaten in six
It was far from a convincing performance from Arne Slot’s side but the Reds are now unbeaten in six games in all competitions with four wins and two draws. They have beaten Brighton and Spurs in their last two Premier League games.
They did drop points in draws with Leeds United and Sunderland. The nature of the performance will not please Slot as the Reds looked to be struggling against nine men, but he will enjoy learning from a win compared to a loss.
"I thought it would mean it would be easier, but in reality it wasn't,” said Slot afterwards.
"I thought against nine we would be able to keep them away from goal but it looked like were down to nine and they had 11."
Continue Reading