Tottenham Hotspur stunned Liverpool with a 1-0 victory in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane Stadium.
This marks Liverpool’s second consecutive game without a win, following a disappointing draw against struggling Manchester United at Anfield in their last Premier League encounter.
Tottenham had a goal disallowed in the 76th minute by VAR but managed to score 10 minutes later, securing the only goal that separated the two sides at full time.
Tottenham now look forward to ending their 18-year trophy drought as they prepare to visit Liverpool for the second leg at Anfield.
Liverpool’s manager, in his post-match interview, stated that Tottenham’s reaction was expected after their last meeting, where Liverpool defeated Spurs 6-3:
“If you compare it with the 6-3 [in the Premier League], then that’s clear, but I don’t think we will reach that level in every single game we play. You can always expect a reaction from Spurs, which you saw today. You can always expect a reaction from the fans because it’s a semi-final. We all know how important it is to us but also how important it is for the Spurs fans to go to the final.
We knew when we came here that it would never be the same game as we played here one week ago or two weeks ago, but still, I saw a lot of similar things. I think even in that game, ball possession was equal, but now I think we had 60 to 40 [percent]. There are many good things to take for me—more than the [Manchester] United game—but the result was not as good as against United.”
Earlier today, Arsenal were defeated 2-0 by Newcastle United, giving Newcastle a significant advantage heading into the second leg.