Premier League highlights: leaders Liverpool leave it late against Spurs and Klopp loves it

Liverpool 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

A penalty from Mohamed Salah secured Liverpool three points against Tottenham and extended their lead over Manchester City to six points at the top of the Premier League table.

Spurs were one up within a minute at Anfield as Harry Kane stooped to head home the rebound from Son Heung-min Son’s deflected shot.

That early goal stunned the Kop but they found their voice as the Reds fought their way back into the game in the second-half.

‘A super game – I loved it’

A goal from Jordan Henderson – his first in the league at Anfield in nearly four years – brought the Reds level on 52 minutes as his miscued half-volley found the corner of the Tottenham net.

Salah then scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge on Sadio Mane from Serge Aurier.

It was tough on Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who had made a string of fine saves to keep his side in the game, but the result means Liverpool’s unbeaten run at home now stands at 45 league games.

“Their goalkeeper made some incredible saves but we stayed calm,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

“At half-time we said this game only had one problem, the score. There were one or two things we could do better and adapt a little bit.

“We were in control, we pushed them back and dominated apart from the last five minutes when we felt the intensity of the game. It was a super game and I loved it.”

Kane and Spurs hurting

Not so Kane, who said of the scoreline: “It hurts to lose but we have to dust ourselves down.”

The striker said the Reds “are getting those little breaks at the moment” but also admitted Spurs hadn’t been at their best.

“We didn’t try and play as much as we liked,” the England captain added. “If we could have played a bit more we could have created even more chances for ourselves and finished the game off.”

Video of Arsenal denied late winner by VAR! | Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace | EPL Highlights

Arsenal 2 Crystal Palace 2: fans’ fury at familiar failings

Tottenham are 11th in the Premier League table on 12 points, four fewer than their north London rivals, Arsenal, who squandered a two-goal lead at home to Crystal Palace.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz put the Gunners 2-0 up within the first ten minutes but familiar failings then hurt the hosts as their leaky defence allowed the Eagles to share the spoils with goals from Luka Milivojevic and Jordan Ayew.

Grant gesture

Furious Arsenal fans vented their fury on captain Granit Xhaka when he was substituted on the hour mark, and he reacted to the boos and catcalls with truculent gestures that summed up the sour atmosphere at the club.

The supporters’ mood darkened still further when referee Martin Atkinson ruled out a late Sokratis after VAR spotted a push by Callum Chambers on Gary Cahill in the build-up.

“I didn’t understand the referee and VAR reaction,” Arsenal boss Unai Emery complained. “It is not a good decision. We deserved to win, we had a good reaction after they equalised, we scored but then they didn’t count it.”

Arsenal fans went on social media to signal their disgust at the day’s events, and it’s reported that striker Alexandre Lacazette liked the post of one supporter demanding the departure of Emery and Xhaka.

Video of Man Utd miss TWO penalties on way to victory at Norwich | Norwich 1-3 Man Utd | EPL Highlights

Norwich 1 Man Utd 3: Red Devils win away at last

Arsenal are now fifth, three points clear of Manchester United, who move into seventh after winning 3-1 at Carrow Road against Norwich City.

United’s win was all the more remarkable given that Tim Krul twice saved penalties from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. But the Norwich keeper was unable to keep out efforts from Scott McTominay, Rashford and Martial, as United won their first league game on the road since February.

“This had been a good week for us,” said United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. “It started with a decent performance against Liverpool and now two wins away from home. It gives the players confidence and momentum.”