Tottenham Hotspur secured a crucial 1-0 victory over Liverpool on Wednesday, in the first leg of the English League Cup semi-final.
The only goal of the match came in the 86th minute, when Tottenham’s young talent, Lucas Bergvall, found the back of the net.
The early stages of the game saw little action in front of the goal, but there was a significant pause when Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur fell to the ground. The match was halted for around 8 minutes as Bentancur received medical attention before being stretchered off the field.
Tottenham’s Australian coach, Ange Postecoglou, was forced to make an early substitution, replacing Bentancur with Brennan Johnson in the 15th minute.
The first real chance of the match came for Tottenham, as Son delivered a powerful ground cross from the left near the goal. Solanke attempted to meet it with a heel flick, but the ball struck his leg and went out of play.
Liverpool responded through Mohamed Salah, who fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but it missed the right post by a few inches.
Liverpool’s manager, Arne Slot, was forced into an early substitution after Jarrell Quansah suffered an injury. Buataro Endo came on to replace him.
Tsimikas then took a free kick, sending a cross into the Tottenham penalty area. Alexis Mac Allister met it with a weak header right down the center, which goalkeeper Kinski easily collected.
The match slowed down for a while until Salah had another chance, drilling a right-footed shot from inside the box, but it went wide of the Spurs’ goal.
Cody Gakpo then took a powerful long-range shot, but it was comfortably caught by Kinski, who was positioned in the middle of the goal.
Gakpo threatened again, making a run into the penalty area from the left before blasting a shot over the bar. But the first half ended with the score of 0-0.
After a quiet start to the second half, Alisson nearly gifted Tottenham a goal with a costly mistake. Spurs quickly launched a counterattack, and Boro fired a shot, but it went wide of the left post.
As soon as he came on as a substitute, Darwin Núñez almost found the net for Liverpool, meeting a cross from the left with a header, but the ball went straight into the hands of Tottenham’s goalkeeper Kinski.
Núñez threatened again with a shot aimed at the center of the goal, but Kinski was alert and easily saved it.
Trent Alexander-Arnold nearly scored a stunning goal for Liverpool, unleashing a rocket shot on the fly. However, Tottenham’s Dragusin made a brilliant clearance off the line, denying the Reds.
Tottenham thought they had taken the lead when Solanke received a through ball, ran with it, and slotted it past Alisson. However, the goal was disallowed after a VAR review determined that Solanke was in an offside position when he received the through ball.
Solanke redeemed himself moments later, winning a one-on-one battle with Ibrahima Konaté. He then passed the ball to Lucas Bergvall inside the penalty area, who fired a precise shot into the net to give Spurs the lead.
Núñez almost equalized for Liverpool late in the match, brilliantly meeting a cross from Luis Díaz with a deft touch, but Kinski was quick to react, making a crucial save and turning the ball into a corner.
The match ended with Tottenham securing a 1-0 victory, leaving them in a strong position ahead of the second leg.
