Juergen Klopp on Sunday said he could not care less that Liverpool’s dramatic 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur was an “ugly” way to return to the top of the English Premier League.
Klopp’s side took the lead through Roberto Firmino’s first-half opener, only to be pegged back by Lucas Moura’s equalizer after halftime.
Spurs dominated, but then wasted several chances before Liverpool stole the points in stoppage-time.
Photo: Reuters
Mohamed Salah’s header was spilled by Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris before rebounding off Toby Alderweireld for an own-goal.
It was a lucky break that Liverpool arguably did not deserve, but Reds boss Klopp was not complaining about a result that took them two points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
“In the first half we had fantastic chances and scored a wonderful goal. In the second half we looked heavy and couldn’t really play,” Klopp said. “Tottenham changed a little bit. We didn’t adapt well. I was not happy we conceded, but after Spurs’ goal we started playing again more.”
“We can play better football, but in the first half we had a lot of good moments. In the second not that many, but we scored — 2-1, brilliant,” he said. “I saw the header and nothing else. I had no clue how the ball went in. It is only positive. I said there are 500 ways to win a football game and today was slightly ugly. Who cares?”
Liverpool’s crucial win keeps the pressure on City, but the champions can return to the top if they beat struggling Cardiff City at home tomorrow.
That would leave City one point clear of Liverpool, with both sides having six games remaining.
Klopp, trying to guide Liverpool to their first title since 1989-1990, said the race is likely to go down to the wire as City show no signs of surrendering the trophy easily.
“We compete with the best team in the world [Manchester City] and play against one of best in the world in Tottenham — it is a tough task. It is all good,” he said. “City last year were champions and are still pretty good. We have to fight like crazy. The crowd was outstanding. They were really here to push us and at the end it helped. I am really happy we don’t have any [international] breaks now. We compete with the best team in world for one position and that is really hard.”
Tottenham’s defeat left their top-four bid in peril after a fourth loss in five games.
“We were a little bit unlucky to concede the second goal when we should have been ahead because we dominated Liverpool, who are a very good team,” Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said. “No one wants to lose, but it’s a different defeat than the ones we suffered against Southampton or Burnley.”
“I was telling the players in the changing room we have seven games, and we are in [the] top four and we need to compete,” he said. “It’s a mini league and, playing the way we played today, I think we can achieve the top four.”
Also on Sunday, it was:
‧ Cardiff City 1, Chelsea 2
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite