London: Roberto Firmino ended Liverpool’s 483-minute goal drought in the Premier League to set the champions on their way to a 3-1 win over Tottenham and revive their faltering title defence.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane also netted as Liverpool ended a five-game winless run in a league it dominated so resoundingly last season.
The victory, which lifts Liverpool into fourth place, started with VAR ruling out an opener for Tottenham when Son Heung-min was adjudged to be offside.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a powerful strike shortly after Alexander-Arnold scored at the start of the second half, but the Liverpool right back set up Mane for the third that sealed the win.
While Liverpool moved within four points of leader Manchester City, Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham are eight points adrift in sixth after their first defeat in 2021, albeit with a game in hand.
And Mourinho faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of Harry Kane’s injury after the striker twice went down in the first half clutching his left ankle before being replaced at the interval.
“He is injured in both ankles,” Mourinho said. “He said to compete with one pain he probably could, but both — it was very painful and very sore and he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.
“He is a guy with a good sacrifice spirit, he can fight against pain, but it was difficult for him.”
