LONDON: Mo Salah demonstrated his killer instinct twice over as Liverpool regained Premier League momentum by recording an important first away win at Tottenham. Victory by 2-1 lifted them within two points of Brighton and Chelsea in the European places.

Manager Jurgen Klopp had been angered and frustrated by Liverpool’s previous defeats against struggling Nottingham Forest and Leeds so he was finally smiling again after seeing his team recover in such a manner against fourth-placed Tottenham.

Liverpool were superb in the opening 11 minutes and deserved the lead. A left-wing raid by Andy Robertson set up Darwin Nunez to prove Mohamed Salah with his 125th league goal. Nunez had been restored to the starting line-up after a goalscoring impact as a substitute in the Champions League defeat of Napoli.

Spurs responded in style. Ivan Perisic saw a header from a Harry Kane cross tipped against a post by goalkeeper Alisson before the goalkeeper dived to save from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Tottenham were denied a penalty after a tangle between Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ryan Sessegnon.

Liverpool celebrated their escape by extending their lead in the 40th minute when Salah punished a poor defensive header by Eric Dier. It could have been even worse for Tottenham. Lloris nearly presented Liverpool with a third goal as his clearance bounced back to him off Roberto Firmino.

Spurs, with only one win against Liverpool in their previous 21 league games, were booed off at halftime by their fans. They began the second half brightly but without any luck as a shot from Perisic hit the bar.

Tottenham missed Heung-min Son who is a World Cup doubt after fracturing an eye socket in the midweek win over Marseille which propelled them into the knockout stages of the Champions League. They raised the pace but the more they attacked the more exposed they left their own defence. Lloris had to save from both Salah and Nunez as Liverpool sought to hit them on the break.

Liverpool, who had looked short of form and energy in their previous defeats, appeared to have been revived by their Champions League qualification. Fabinho was back to his solid best at the heart of midfield while Nunez obviously enjoyed the physical challenge of his seventh league start of the season.

Tottenham’s failure to break back prompted Conte to bring on Dejan Kulusevski who had been missing since mid-September after being injured on international duty with Sweden. He made an instant impression by setting up Kane to pull a goal back with 20 minutes remaining. Kane had now scored in six successive home league matches. 

Conte’s impatience almost led to his third red card of the season when he slapped the ball out of the hands of Pep Lijnders in the technical area as Robertson waited to take a throw-in. Fortunately for Conte referee Bobby Madley showed him only yellow.

Klopp sent on Jordan Henderson and Curtis Jones to assist Allison in defensive defiance and condemn Tottenham to their second home defeat.

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