Sadio Mane double sees Liverpool past Tottenham Hotspur

Two goals in as many minutes from Sadio Mane earned Liverpool their first Premier League win of 2017 as Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 2-0 at Anfield.


Mane and Liverpool took full advantage of a chaotic first half from Spurs, who were unable to cope with the home side's intensity and offered far too much space.

Jurgen Klopp's side could have been in front in the opening minutes as the visitors struggled to settle, with Roberto Firmino having an early effort blocked amid defensive uncertainty.

They made the breakthrough after 16 minutes when Georginio Wijnaldum slid a superb pass through to Mane, who got away from Ben Davies to power a finish past Hugo Lloris.

Two minutes later, the lead was doubled when Tottenham's Eric Dier took too long to deal with a ball forward and was dispossessed by Mane. He set up Lallana whose shot was saved, as was Firmino's effort on the rebound, before Mane smashed home the loose ball.

Mane could have had a hat trick with 21 minutes gone only for Lloris to make a good save after he had taken advantage of more hesitation, this time from Davies.

Spurs were stunned but could have put themselves back in the game just after the half hour when Son Heung-Min was denied by Simon Mignolet before a Dele Alli header was flicked up and over his own bar by Lucas.

But Liverpool were on the front foot again as the first half drew to a close, Philippe Coutinho forcing a good save from Lloris, before Christian Eriksen whipped a free kick narrowly over for Tottenham.

A more disjointed second period saw few good chances for either side amid a flurry of bookings -- but Liverpool had done the work that mattered in the first and moved above Manchester City, who play at Bournemouth on Monday, and into fourth place.










Credit: ESPN