Lennon hits winner as Tottenham beat Liverpool 2-1

Hodgson looks aghast as Liverpool surrender another good start

The irony was not lost on the Merseysiders. It was a man named Lennon who sunk Liverpool as the Reds suffered a 2-1 humbling at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League encounter at White Hart Lane.

John Lennon’s namesake Aaron stole the headlines of the pulsating encounter with an injury time winner. Earlier, Martin Skrtel’s own goal had helped Spurs pull level after the Slovak defender had opened the scoring for Liverpool.

Easily the better side on the night, Tottenham deserved the victory, having kept majority of the possession. Gareth Bale and Luka Modric shone as the hapless Reds defence tried to keep pace with a resolute Spurs midfield.

The playmaking role fell to Modric after Rafael van der Vaart was subbed off early, having pulled his hamstring, but the Croatian international relished the role with one of his finest performances in a Spurs shirt. He drove forward with ease and his distribution was flawless. Bale made life difficult for both Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher as the Liverpool duo picked up yellow cards trying to slow down the Welshman.

As Bale set the left flank on fire, Lennon made darting runs from the right and gave some decent crosses to Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe. Defoe, who came on for van der Vaart, had a poor game, kicking a penalty wide on the hour mark and having a goal at the death ruled offside. Fortunately for him, Lennon’s strike came moments later. The winger could have easily scored one more soon after but he dragged his shot wide.

Wilson Palacios struggled to string together simple passes in the midfield but with Younes Kaboul and van der Vaart having been subbed off early, Harry Redknaap could not gamble to replace him with Jermaine Jenas or Tom Huddlestone. Heurelho Gomes made some important saves in the Spurs goal.

Pepe Reina was equally effective in the Liverpool goal and though he couldn’t have done much about the own goal, he almost saved Lennon’s strike. Johnson had a tough time against Bale and did not foray forward too much. He was ably supported by Carragher, who made a crucial goal line save from Defoe as well. Skrtel had a mixed day with his part in two goals while Paul Konchesky was caught ball watching in the build up to Lennon’s goal.

Lucas Lieva struggled in midfield and is nowhere as industrious as Javier Mascherano. Much of Liverpool’s struggle this season is due to the Argentine’s departure. But it was Maxi Rodriguez who was the worst Liverpool player on the night as he missed sitter after sitter. Fernando Torres sent him through on goal thrice and the Argentine slipped on the first chance, was offside on the second and dragged his third attempt wide. But for him Liverpool could have put the match to bed as early as halftime.

Torres had very few chances for himself. His touches were good and he combined well with teammates. On the one occasion that he was sent through on goal, he hesitated to pull the trigger allowing Sebastian Bassong to clear.

So just like the corresponding fixture last season, Liverpool took the lead before surrendering it as Spurs added another Big Four scalp to their recent string of upsets. Liverpool might have been looking to seek revenge over the side that stole their Champions League status but clearly there is work to be done before Roy Hodgson’s men can feature among Europe’s elite again.