Premier League - Liverpool slump to Spurs defeat

Eurosport - Mon, 17 Aug 07:13:00 2009

Goals from Benoit Assou-Ekotto and new signing Sebastien Bassong gave Tottenham a 2-1 win over Liverpool in their first game of the Premier League season at White Hart Lane.

FOOTBALL Tottenham Hotspur's Sebastien Bassong celebrates scoring his sides second goal of the game v Liverpool Premier League 2009 - 0

Assou-Ekotto put Spurs head with a wonderful first-half strike before Bassong - controversially included after a technicality overruled a suspension - won the game with a powerful header after Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard had equalised from the penalty spot.

Liverpool had a late appeal for a penalty waved away by referee Phil Dowd after Assou-Ekotto appeared to bring down substitute Andriy Voronin. The decision so incensed the visitors that assistant boss Sammy Lee was sent to the stands.

The Reds will also be annoyed that match-winner Bassong was allowed to play after the FA ruled that the final match of a suspension was sat out during former club Newcastle's 0-0 Championship draw with West Brom last week - even though the Frenchman had already joined Spurs.

The match started tepidly, as both sides struggled to keep possession and play was interrupted by fouls and mis-kicks.

As it progressed, Spurs hit their rhythm while Liverpool continued to labour.

The Reds could only muster one meaningful chance, when the otherwise anonymous Gerrard drilled a low shot wide of the far post on the half hour.

Tottenham, meanwhile, looked by far the better side and could have been three or four ahead had Robbie Keane not missed a hat-trick of chances.

One minute after Gerrard's effort, the former Liverpool striker Keane somehow placed a diving header from six yards straight at the body of the admittedly well-spread Pepe Reina after an excellent first-time cross from Luka Modric.

The same duo combined again three minutes later when the Croatia playmaker Modric slid the Ireland man clean through only for his chipped finish to be parried by Reina, who made the right decision to stand up.

Jermain Defoe put a free header wide from a corner and Keane's final miss came on 42 minutes when he fired wildly over after Tom Huddlestone released him with a knock-down header.

Fortunately for Keane his side went ahead soon after. The impressive Wilson Palacios went on a surging run and was brought down by Martin Skrtel on the edge of the box.

The 44th-minute free-kick was terrible, fired low into the wall by Huddlestone, but the loose ball landed at the feet of Assou-Ekotto, who set himself up with his right before smashing an unstoppable drive with his left that sped into the top left past the helpless Reina.

Spurs took a deserved lead into the break and continued where they left off in the second half - although Liverpool showed more endeavour.

Aaron Lennon went on a thrilling run soon after the restart but he delayed the final ball with Keane free and Liverpool survived.

Gerrard fired inches wide after a neat lay-off from the quiet Fernando Torres while Wilson Palacios forced another good stop from Reina after a typical surging run and shot.

It was Liverpool who drew level on 56 minutes, thanks in part to a super piece of wide play by new signing Glen Johnson but also to the rashness of Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes.

Gomes over-committed when Johnson raced into the area and clattered the England full-back to hand Liverpool a penalty.

Reds skipper Gerrard duly converted with an emphatic central finish into the roof of the net and it seemed Liverpool would get something from a game in which they were mostly second-best.

But within five minutes Spurs regained their lead. Jamie Carragher was undone by the pace of Lennon, who knocked the ball past him and drew a foul that gave the hosts a free-kick on the right wing.

Modric's delivery was decent enough but Liverpool's defending poor, as Carragher and Martin Skrtel allowed debutant Bassong to rise and power a superb header past the flailing Reina and under the crossbar.

Liverpool pressed for an equaliser but the last 25 minutes saw them create few clear-cut chances.

They arguably should have had a penalty when Yossi Benayoun fed fellow sub Voronin, who tumbled to the ground as Assou-Ekotto clipped his heels with no apparent intent to play the ball.

Gerrard also should have done better when he fired straight at Gomes after a superb through ball from Yossi Benayoun but Spurs held on for their first opening-day win in four seasons.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

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  1. So Liverpool have just upped Torres's WEEKLY pay by­ £40k - I get less than a quarter of that a year!! And­ wot does he do? Like the rest of the so-called­ Premiership brats just kick a ball round a field.­ Soccer was once a great game played by ordinary folk,­ these celeb 'stars' contribute nothing, in fact­ they have destroyed the sport.

    From speccy, on Mon 17 Aug 9:34PM

  2. The Fat Spanish Waiter's rantings are now becoming­ boringly predictable. He and the whingeing Kopites­ here seem to
    conveniently forget that Liverpool have­ been awarded the most Premiership penalties during 2009­ AND last season, the only place where a visiting team­ were not awarded a penalty was...Anfield.

    Oh yea &­ how about the catalogue of injustices dished out to­ teams on account of Gerrard's diving and snidey­ gamesmanship? If there is justice, Gerrard will sustain­ a long term injury, sparing us his antics, Liverpool­ will stutter
    for the first six games or so & the­ fickle Red hordes will be screaming for The­ Waiter's head.

    From plonkmorton, on Mon 17 Aug 9:17PM

  3. Hypocritical EPL fans and yahoo bloggers.When Chelsea­ was OVREBOed and denied penalties against Barca all of­ you complained bitterly but when Rafa was Ovreboed­ against Spurs all eyes on him.Why? Why why and why?Why­ cant you guys be objective?(micpando)

    From Michael, on Mon 17 Aug 9:09PM

  4. As a man u fan, i think chelsea is more of a threat­ than aliverpool!!!!!!!!!

    From Akampurira, on Mon 17 Aug 8:40PM

  5. Liverpool will win the premiership, so they keep­ telling us, it is the same quotes from the so called­ experts that has been trotted out with the name of the­ latest signing inserted instead of the last seasons bad­ buy by the Spanish waiter. 19 years since you last won­ a league championship !!!!!!!
    Billy the blue

    From Billy, on Mon 17 Aug 7:56PM

  6. Being a Liverpool fan, I admit that Liverpool­ didn't have a good game at all however from my­ point of view the ref was pants. I hope he gets sacked­ personally because some of the decisions he made were­ shocking particularly 2 towards the end of the­ match.
    Andriy Voronin was through on goal with only the­ keeper to beat with defenders close by, then he got­ pushed over by a defender who didn't have any­ intent on gettin the ball, but the player as he went­ about 10 yards to the opposite side of the ball after­ he had pushed the striker over. And right at the end,­ Torreswas at the edge of the box, then got pushed over­ and the defender who pushed him over started having a­ go at him! Then all of a sudden Spurs had a free kick!!­ WTF??!!
    But the performance from the back was terrible­ for how they usually play and there wasn't enough­ ambition to score up front. I personally think we­ should get Alonso back as you could tell from the state­ of play we were missing him.

    From Ben, on Mon 17 Aug 6:54PM

  7. /////AM///////GUNNERS////
    //AND/////FOR//////LIFE . . .­ .
    /////////THE///////BIGGEST///////////WORD/////////COA­ CHES////////LIKE///////////////////////////BENITEZ/////­ ////DONT/////////////SEEM/////////////TO///////////////­ ///////////////UNDERSTAND////IS/////C.O.N.S.I.S.T.E.N.C­ .E//////////THAT'S//////////SIMPLY///////////HOW///­ ///////MAN.UTD//////////KEEPS/////ON////////AND////////­ /ON///////AND///////ON///////////STILL////////WINNING//­ ///THE//////////EPL//////////////////(SOME////PLAIN////­ TRUTH///FOR////REALISTIC////FOOTBALL/////FANS)/////////

    From Sultan X, on Mon 17 Aug 5:43PM

  8. /////AM///////GUNNERS////
    //AND/////FOR//////LIFE . . .­ .
    /////////THE///////BIGGEST///////////WORD/////////COA­ CHES////////LIKE///////////////////////////BENITEZ/////­ ////DONT/////////////SEEM/////////////TO///////////////­ ///////////////UNDERSTAND////IS/////C.O.N.S.I.S.T.E.N.C­ .E//////////THAT'S//////////SIMPLY///////////HOW///­ ///////MAN.UTD//////////KEEPS/////ON////////AND////////­ /ON///////AND///////ON///////////STILL////////WINNING//­ ///THE//////////EPL//////////////////(SOME////PLAIN////­ TRUTH///FOR////REALISTIC////FOOTBALL/////FANS)/////////

    From Sultan X, on Mon 17 Aug 5:43PM

  9. I do think that this will be Rafa's last season @­ LFC if he finishes lower than 2nd without any­ silverware!

    From darrel.laughlin, on Mon 17 Aug 5:16PM

  10. 508 you forgot to mention carragher playing like its­ the end of a long season ! a donkey would be more­ effective

    From handyandyisalways, on Mon 17 Aug 3:26PM

  11. hey monkee97 you need raffas glasses! spurs were far­ superior in all parts of the park, face it liverpool­ were poor and deserved little from this game,­ admittedly this was a one off for the reds and i doubt­ it will happen again all season, as for spurs one­ result doesnt make a season so lets wait and­ see......c'mon you spurs

    From richard.dickinson10, on Mon 17 Aug 2:00PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Liverpool fan.
    They didn't play as well as they­ could have; that's for sure. But there's no­ doubt that we're better than the Spurs.
    I swear,­ the Referee was biased. There were numerous times when­ our team was fouled; he did nothing about it. At an­ attempt towards the goal, a player on the aposing team­ kicked.. Torres, I think, as he had the ball. There was­ NO foul and it was played on! He was inside the box, as­ well. They should fire him. ._.
    I hope Liverpool come­ at least third place, Manchester United can't win.­ No. Way.

    From monkee97, on Mon 17 Aug 1:37PM

  13. i'm a spurs fan and its simple the better side won,­ liverpool cant complain, utd will win the league again­ and arsenal wont play like that again all season!

    From jjalipscombe, on Mon 17 Aug 1:30PM

  14. From an LFC fan - Spurs were average and LFC were cack,­ the only positives i took from the game were:
    1 - We­ weren't playing Arsenal
    2 - Reina is still sharp
    3­ - Johnson looked lively
    Apart from that we were­ completely lacking in midfield despite having 5 players­ in that position!
    Our defence looked lazy + Lucas as­ per last season was extremely disappointing.
    Hopefully­ when Riera and the new guy returns from injury we may­ start picking up.

    From darrel.laughlin, on Mon 17 Aug 12:38PM

  15. good for liverfool, the fat spanish waiter, and the pub­ boxer. you can now start
    your daily rantings about refs­ in the EPL favouring SAF AND MIGHTY MAN UNITED...­ haha
    hahahahaaaaaaaaaa

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Mon 17 Aug 11:43AM

  16. Hope Liverpool lose against Stoke next weekend! lol

    From Keith, on Mon 17 Aug 11:02AM

  17. WHENEVER RAFA RANTS AGAINST THE GREATEST SIR ALEX, HE­ FALLS LIKE A PACK OF @#$%. RAFA IS JUST A BAD­ MANAGER...TIME TO BE SACKED. IMAGINE HIS­ SECLECTION.....BAD

    From UWEM, on Mon 17 Aug 10:29AM

  18. This is justhe beginning for Rafa and his Liverfool. I­ know he will complain, complain and complain till the­ end of the season. And the next thing will be , we will­ make it next season. Always a next season team. Weep­ Rafa!!! Your team will strugle again to get 4th spot.­ Sorry you liver fools

    From UWEM, on Mon 17 Aug 10:22AM

  19. re post 498 engkhenglee i totally agree with u,­ liverpool were getting no decent ball from midfield at­ all, how can benetiz think lucas can replace alonso?­ and why wasnt benayoun on from the start?, at the end­ of last season i was starting to think benetiz had­ finally decided who his best 11 were but now it looks­ like back to the same old crazy selections, lucas­ shouldnt be in the premiership at all never mind­ liverpool, hopefully i will have to eat these words­ later in the season but i cant see it

    From paul, on Mon 17 Aug 9:43AM

  20. im confused, someone please tell me, is arsenal playing­ 2 days in a row this week?i.e. bolton on tuesday and­ celtic on wednesday?

    From paul, on Mon 17 Aug 9:36AM
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