Tottenham 4 - 2 Liverpool

Ed Colenutt, November 12th 2008

Liverpool are out of the Carling Cup after losing 4-2 against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Frazier Campbell and Roman Pavlyuchenko both netted twice for Spurs, while Damien Plessis and Sami Hyypia got on the scoresheet for the Reds.

As he had in the last round against Crewe, Rafa Benitez selected a weakened side for this tie. The team was slightly improved from the one that had struggled to win against inferior opposition, Fernando Torres and Andrea Dossena replacing Jermaine Pennant and Emiliano Insua, but you still got the feeling Liverpool would struggle against an almost full strength Spurs side.

Tottenham had the better of the opening exchanges as Liverpool struggled to get a foothold in the game, and Aaron Lennon in particular was impressive for the home side.

It was to continue in this vein for most of the opening 45 minutes, Spurs attacking whist Liverpool found themselves unable to get out of their own half. A home goal seemed inevitable, and Tottenham duly delivered on 38 minutes.

Frazier Campbell flew down the left flank before pulling the ball back for an unmarked Roman Pavlyuchenko, who made no mistake with his close range effort to put Spurs 1-0 up.

What followed next can only be described as a total collapse, as the Reds went on to concede a further two goals before the half time whistle.

First up Campbell put the ball into an empty net four minutes later after Dossena and keeper Diego Cavalieri managed to run into each other instead of dealing with the cross. Then to compound Liverpool’s misery Campbell got his second on the stroke of halftime, after he beat Dossena to a Lennon cross.

After trudging in at half time 3-0 down Liverpool gave themselves a fighting chance by scoring within minutes of the restart, Damien Plessis heading home Ryan Babel’s corner.

All that good work was undone just four minutes later though, as Didier Zakora darted past the Liverpool defence before finding Pavyluchenko unmarked, who’s deflected shot made it four for Spurs.

The Reds pulled back another goal on 63 minutes though, Sami Hyypia nodding home from a corner in what was almost a carbon copy of the first Liverpool goal.

If Liverpool were hoping to gain any momentum they were out of luck though, as minutes later the game was subjected to a delay of almost 10 minutes after Spurs keeper Gomes went down awkwardly under pressure. In all fairness it did appear to be a genuine injury rather than any attempt by the home side to waste time, and eventually the game was back underway.

Liverpool could have been right back in the game if it wasn’t for referee Mike Riley turning away probably the most cast iron penalty appeal you’ll see all season. Philipp Degen made a bursting run down the right and cut into the box before being felled by Gareth Bale. Replays showed the Spurs left back was not even remotely close to winning the ball, but despite being perfectly positioned Riley waved play on.

This inspired Liverpool to push on, and for the first time in the game the visitors were actually the better side for the closing ten minutes. The Reds threw players forward at will, but it was a case of too little too late, and they were unable to add to the scoring.

Comment on this article:

free forms