Liverpool 5-1 Tottenham: Highlights, man of the match, stats as Arne Slot’s Premier League title party begins

Liverpool slaughtered a sorry Tottenham Hotspur side 5-1 to clinch their second Premier League title and 20th English top-flight crown, equalling Manchester United’s all-time record in the process.

Simply needing to claim a point to avoid waiting any longer, Arne Slot‘s holders-in-waiting did not follow the script in the first 15 minutes, as former flame Dominic Solanke stunned the Kop with a brilliant header from a corner.

However, the response from the Reds was the response of champions, as Luis Diaz‘s leveller, Alexis Mac Allister‘s latest thunderbolt and a tidy Cody Gakpo finish saw normal service resume and leave the hosts just 45 minutes away from stardom.

Not content to declare at three, Liverpool went for the jugular against their abysmal visitors and did not end the afternoon without a couple of goals in front of the Kop, as Mohamed Salah notched Premier League goal number 28 for the season before Destiny Udogie‘s own goal capped off a five-star afternoon.

Slot and Ange Postecoglou embraced on the touchline a couple of minutes before the full-time whistle, which triggered the best kind of Merseyside mayhem as red smoke engulfed the ground.

As Liverpool revel in a guaranteed first-placed finish, Tottenham remain down in 16th spot in the Premier League table, and the perennially serene Slot finally allowed himself to let loose when the party started.

SPORTS MOLE’S VERDICT

© Imago

The race for the crown is mathematically over today, but it was realistically over a long time ago, and a jam-packed Anfield can finally soak up the glory of a Premier League title win.

COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 did not stop thousands of supporting breaking social distancing regulations to gather outside the stadium, but Liverpool players lifting the trophy aloft in front of empty seats inside the ground was surreal in the worst sense of the word.

However, following a near-seamless transition into a post-Jurgen Klopp world, Liverpool are officially the best team in the land once again, and their fans could hardly have wished for a more emphatic way to rubber-stamp such a status.

Amid all the Liverpool delight, however, there is Tottenham despair, and Ange Postecoglou has now equalled Ossie Ardiles‘s record for the most Premier League defeats by a single Spurs head coach in one season.

The Europa League of course takes precedence for Tottenham, but the manner in which they capitulated against the champions was nothing short of embarrassing, and even continental glory may not be enough to earn Postecoglou a stay of execution after Sunday’s horror show.

Today belongs to the men in red, though, and with the evergreen Virgil van Dijk and Salah staying on to keep the Slot machine whirring next season, who knows what the Liverpool luminaries could achieve next.

LIVERPOOL VS. TOTTENHAM HIGHLIGHTS

Dominic Solanke goal vs. Liverpool (12th min, Liverpool 0-1 Tottenham)

Something about cats and pigeons.

Tottenham sew the smallest seed of doubt into Liverpool fans’ minds, as James Maddison‘s corner is bang on the money for ex-Reds striker Solanke, who easily evades Luis Diaz and heads into the far corner past a stranded Alisson Becker.

Luis Diaz goal vs. Tottenham (16th min, Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham)

Never in doubt.

Mohamed Salah slips in Dominik Szoboszlai down the right-hand side of the Tottenham box, and the Hungarian squares for Diaz to scramble home the equaliser on his 100th Premier League appearance.

The linesman initially believed that Szoboszlai was just ahead of the last defender, but a VAR review shows that Kevin Danso just played him on, and Liverpool have their champions status back.

Alexis Mac Allister goal vs. Tottenham (24th min, Liverpool 2-1 Tottenham)

Death, taxes, and Mac Allister scoring screamers.

Tottenham have not helped themselves whatsoever since Solanke’s opener, and the Lilywhites get caught playing out from the back as Ryan Gravenberch gets his body in the way of Archie Gray and the ball.

Mac Allister picks up the pieces, shifts the ball onto his left and rifles a wonderful 20-yard strike into the top corner; it was past Guglielmo Vicario in a flash, and that aforementioned seed of doubt has surely now been extinguished.

Cody Gakpo goal vs. Tottenham (34th min, Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham)

The trophy engraver can probably get a head-start right about now.

Mac Allister stands over a corner on the right-hand side, and the wind prevents him from launching a cross into the box a few times before he finally gets his delivery in.

Lucas Bergvall can only half-clear to Gakpo just inside the box, and the Dutchman works a yard of space before picking out the far corner with a wonderful finish through a sea of bodies.

He gets a yellow card for removing his shirt and showing off his “I belong to Jesus” vest – the same message Kaka famously sported – but that might be the most trivial booking of the season.

63rd min: Liverpool 4-1 Tottenham (Mohamed Salah)

The perfect end to a near-perfect afternoon.

A Tottenham attack is stopped in its tracks and Liverpool break away through Szoboszlai, who has Salah free to his right and lays off the Egyptian just outside the Tottenham penalty area.

Destiny Udogie is powerless to stop Salah cutting inside onto his left foot, and the Golden Boot leader ends a four-game Premier League goal drought with a thunderous finish inside Vicario’s near post.

A selfie with the Kop to celebrate a new contract, a second Premier League title, and a goal that makes him the competition’s highest foreign goalscorer of all time.

Destiny Udogie own goal vs. Tottenham (69th min, Liverpool 5-1 Tottenham)

That Solanke header feels like an age ago for Tottenham now.

A deflected Diogo Jota effort falls into the path of Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose low ball across is intended for Salah, but Udogie accidentally taps into his own net in his attempts to deny the Egyptian a second.

MAN OF THE MATCH – ALEXIS MAC ALLISTER

© Imago

If Arsenal got Declan Rice half price, what did Liverpool get Mac Allister for?

Not just adding to his collection of wonder strikes, the Argentine fulcrum put in an energy-zapping display that typified his astounding season, also putting in six tackles, registering three shots and creating two chances for his teammates.

Team of the Season worthy? Hard to argue against it.

LIVERPOOL VS. TOTTENHAM MATCH STATS

Possession: Liverpool 63%-37% Tottenham
Shots: Liverpool 25-8 Tottenham
Shots on target: Liverpool 8-3 Tottenham
Corners: Liverpool 8-2 Tottenham
Fouls: Liverpool 16-9 Tottenham

BEST STATS

WHAT NEXT?

Party time.

And once that is over, Liverpool complete the formalities of their triumphant Premier League season, firstly heading to Chelsea on May 4 before hosting Arsenal seven days later.

Meanwhile, all Spurs eyes are now on the first leg of their Europa League semi-final with Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, which precedes a Premier League London derby away to West Ham United on May 4.

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