LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Diogo Jota scored a stoppage-time winner as Liverpool clinched a barely-believable 4-3 Premier League victory over Tottenham Hotspur to bolster their hopes of qualifying for Europe on Sunday.
Liverpool had led 3-0 inside the opening 15 minutes as for the second successive Sunday Tottenham’s defence crumbled, but the visitors stormed back and substitute Richarlison’s stoppage-time header appeared to have earned his side an unlikely point.
But Jota, also on as a substitute, punished a mistake by Lucas Moura to break Tottenham’s hearts and fire Liverpool over the Londoners into fifth place in the table.
A chaotic first half was only three minutes old when Curtis Jones put the hosts in front and two minutes later Tottenham’s defence crumbled again as Luis Diaz volleyed home.
When Mohamed Salah blasted a penalty high into the net in the 15th minute Tottenham seemed on course for a repeat of the horror show at Newcastle United last Sunday when they conceded five times in the opening 21 minutes in a 6-1 hammering.
With some Spurs supporters leaving early and fans chanting “we want our money back” the visitors suddenly came alive though and Harry Kane volleyed past Alisson in the 39th minute and shortly afterwards Son Heung-min was denied by the upright.
Tottenham could not believe their bad luck after the break when Son and Cristian Romero saw efforts rebound off the post within the space of a couple of minutes.
Liverpool finally appeared to have restored order but Son raced clear to make it 3-2 in the 77th minute and set up a nerve-jangling finale that had earlier looked improbable.
Former Everton forward Richarlison sent the Tottenham fans delirious when his glancing header bounced into the net but within a minute their joy turned to dismay as Jota beat Fraser Forster with a clinical slow shot.
Liverpool have 56 points from 33 games with Tottenham on 54 from 34 games. Liverpool remain seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United who have played one game less.
The teams that finish fifth and sixth will likely qualify for the Europa League next season.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
