Liverpool and Tottenham Go At Each Other Like Hollywood Boxers

For a game that meant little league wide, the Tottenham/Liverpool match had a rather large buildup.  Even the Reds' manager, Jurgen Klopp, said he would buy a ticket if he wasn't managing the game.  Fortunately the match lived up to the hype.

Anfield saw a furious start to the match.  Both teams were flying up and down the pitch in the opening 12 minutes.  Simon Mignolet had to make an early save from a blistering shot, which he saw late.  Then James Milner had a good chance in the 12th minute where he had the ball on the spot but it would not settle for him to take a shot before the defense closed.

As fun, exciting and nervewracking as the first 10 minutes were to watch, the next 10 were drivol.  Liverpool's backline became increasingly sloppy and Mignolet returned to his indecisive ways to almost alow a goal on what should have been an easy clearance.  Fortunately the sloppiness did not cost them.

It took plenty of time to get him truly involved in the game but Daniel Sturridge finally found the ball in space in the 36th minute.  Unfortunately he took the drive first touch and ended up shooting right at Hugo Lloris.  Lloris came up big two minutes later as well.

Adam Lallana almost made something of nothing, turning it back to the center and letting lose a strike from 18 that almost snuck in the bottom corner before the keeper managed to get a paw on.  Lallana was again denied by the Tottenham keeper in the 40th minute.

The Englishman scuffed the shot into the ground but it appeared headed into the net until Lloris swatted at it enough to parry it away.  Despite the fact that Liverpool had the two best chances of the first half, Tottenham were always buzzing and creating more chances.  Liverpool were perhaps lucky to be level going into the break.

The Reds managed to create some momentum before the break but had none coming out of the tunnel.  It was all white-shirts for the first five minutes.  Fortunately, it would only take six minutes to turn that all around.

Coutinho took the ball about halfway up the offensive half and then slid it into Sturridge.  He then took a fantastic run into space and Sturridge found him in the box.  It was then just a matter of placement and the Brazilian just slotted it into the side of the net with the side of his right foot, giving Lloris no chance.

Coutinho seemed to have found his form and almost set up a goal minutes later.  From the left, he crossed a perfect ball into the box for a lonely Sturridge but he could not get on top of the ball and headed it about a foot over the bar.

Tottenham almost knotted it up a minute after Sturridge's missed chance.  A ball over the top of the defense made it's way to Son who volleyed it with power but scraped the face of goal and wide.

Harry Kane finally found the equalizer in the 62nd minute with a great turn and shoot.  There was little the Liverpool defense could do once he received the ball as Dejan Lovren was so close to him.  Kane just spun and sent one into the bottom corner.

Spurs almost took the lead moments later and would have if not for Mignolet coming up large for his team.  The game then went back into it's back and forth nature (if it ever left).  Coutinho almost took the lead back for the reds in the 70th minute, getting his way down to the endline and sending one across.

Unfortunately, that ball had too much spin to go in on its own and was just a step too far away to be touched in by Sturridge.  Then the Reds may have taken one pass too many when Coutinho put a cross off the defender and out instead of shooting in the 75th minute.  Coutinho also put one wide in the 85th minute.

In the end, 1-1 would be the final score.  Both sides were probably hard done by the result, but in reality it was also the most fair.  Both teams created and scored.  Both teams missed great opportunities.  Both goalkeepers made huge saves to preserve the scorelines.

Tottenham needed the win to keep their league title hopes alive and could not do so.  Liverpool needed the win to get some distance between them and Chelsea and to keep any hope of automatic European qualification alive and did not do so.

It was a fantastic game to behold, but there was a lot of sloppiness by both as well.  More goals should have been scored, but a draw was the right result with how everything played out.

Random Thoughts:

- Adam Lallana, my favorite, was unfortunate to not get two goals in this game.  He really should have scored on both, but there's no blame on his end when Lloris comes up with huge saves.

- This game messed up my eating schedule.  Everytime I tried to get up to grab some food, something would happen and I had to sit back down.  Maybe I should have waited until the game was over since Spurs scored while I was in the kitchen.

- It's odd that as bad as Liverpool's defense looked at times, they were not to blame for the goal.  Lovren will take some blame because fans love to hate him, but there was no stopping Kane once he took the ball cleanly.

- As fans we take enjoyment in each game as it's own.  As a season though, it's incredibly disappointing and almost a lost season when staying ahead of Chelsea seems to be the only goal left.

- Thank goodness for this game.  We'd all like to have seen a win, but at least the international break is done for a bit.  As an American, I love and fully support the US team, but international breaks are just so boring.

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