Joel Matip mistake costs nine-man Liverpool in Tottenham defeat

Tottenham Hotspur maintained their unbeaten start to the season at the expense of Liverpool, picking up an entertaining 2-1 victory on Saturday.

Liverpool, who had previously gone 12 Premier League games without defeat against Spurs, saw their unbeaten start grind to a halt as they finished the exciting fixture with nine men.

Curtis Jones picked up an early sending-off, complicating Liverpool’s chances of victory, while Diogo Jota was shown a red card for two bookable offences in a 23-second span.

Knowing victory would see them end the day at the top of the Premier League table, Liverpool flew out of the traps and it wasn’t long before they carved out a fantastic opening.

However, Guglielmo Vicario refused to be beaten between the sticks for Tottenham, repelling efforts from Cody Gakpo and Andrew Robertson.

Liverpool’s evening turned sour in the 26th minute when – initially awarded a yellow card – Jones was shown a red following a shin-high challenge on Yves Bissouma after Simon Hooper consulted the pitchside monitor.

Undeterred, the Reds pushed on looking to cause Spurs some problems, and they thought they’d taken the lead through Luis Diaz only for the assistant referee’s flag to cut short his celebrations.

Jurgen Klopp’s side soon found themselves behind when James Maddison unlocked the defence, threading through an inch-perfect ball for Richarlison, who teed up Heung-min Son to tap home.

Liverpool continued to probe in the face of adversity buoyed by their remarkable record after conceding the first goal.

Liverpool have gone behind five times this season and have come back to win each fixture, pulling off the feat twice with ten men.

So it was unsurprising when they found an equaliser before the half-time interval after Virgil van Dijk kept a free-kick alive at the far post, and his knockdown was smashed home by Gakpo with his trademark turn and finish.

With the numerical advantage, Tottenham kicked off the second 45 minutes on the front foot and had the ball in the net but were denied by the offside flag.

Needing to end their abysmal run of form against Liverpool, Spurs’ chances of snatching a late win increased even further when Jota was sent off.

The last time Liverpool had two players sent off in a Premier League match was at Tottenham in 2011 – a game which they lost 4-0.

They suffered an identical fate this time, although not by the same scoreline as Matip put through his own goal in the dying moments of the game to hand Spurs a victory.

The Reds defended bravely, but it was all undone by a moment of madness, and the win moved Tottenham to within one point of Manchester City at the Premier League summit.

Liverpool will end the day inside the top four but will be eager to return to winning ways when they take on Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League next week.