Salah saves Liverpool as Man United miss two penalties

October 27

22:03 2019

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Mohamed Salah’s 75th-minute spot-kick helped Liverpool complete a comeback 2-1 win over Tottenham at Anfield to maintain a five-point lead on the EPL table.

The win extended Liverpool’s unbeaten record at home to 45 games, while Tottenham has won only once in five league games.

Tottenham took a surprise first-minute lead through striker Harry Kane. The captain latched on to Heng-Min Son’s deflected shot which hit the bar to nod Spurs ahead.

Tottenham’s second-choice goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, was in inspired form with four brilliant saves in a matter of minutes as Liverpool’s attacking onslaught was unleashed. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold were all denied to preserve the away side’s one-goal lead at the break.

The Reds continued on the front foot in the second period and equalised on 52 minutes despite Son hitting the bar for Tottenham. Captain, Jordan Henderson ghosted in at the far post to slot beyond Gazzaniga to restore parity.

Tottenham finally yielded the winning goal on 75 minutes from a Serge Aurier-gifted penalty won by Mane, and Salah converted for his fifth league goal of the season.

The win means Jurgen Klopp’s unbeaten side returned to winning ways and are on 28 points, five more than second-placed Manchester City who won 3-0 on Saturday.

VAR strikes again

The video assistant referee (VAR) system again, controversially awarded penalties at Norwich and Arsenal. However, two of three penalties awarded at both grounds looked like the wrong calls.

Daniel James and perennial diver, Wilfred Zaha, got underserved penalty calls for Man United and Crystal Palace respectively.

Arsenal would score two goals in the first eight minutes but could only take a point from their London derby against Crystal Palace who fought back to draw 2-2.

Two corner kicks saw Sokratis Papastathopoulos volley in and David Luiz head past Wayne Hennessey for a 2-0 lead, but Luka Milivojevic’s penalty for Crystal Palace halved the deficit. The comeback was completely by Ghana’s Jordan Ayew who nodded in at the back post.

There was more controversy five minutes from the end when Papastathopoulos thought he had scored the winner, but VAR chalked off the goal after minutes of deliberation for an infringement in the lead up to the chance.

Manchester United, however, lost both spot-kicks but still won 3-1 at Norwich. Scot McTominay curled in the first, Marcus Rashford slotted in the second and turned provider for Anthony Martial for the third goal to give the Red Devils a first league win in five games.