Football writer Tom Hancock analyses Wednesday night's EFL Cup semi-final first leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Liverpool
Spurs won for the first time since before Christmas to end Liverpool’s 24-match unbeaten run and take a narrow lead into the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie, thanks to Lucas Bergvall’s 86th-minute strike.
It was a night of vindication for Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou, who got a thoroughly accomplished performance out of his injury-stricken side against the Premier League leaders.
New Spurs recruit Antonin Kinsky, an arrival from Slavia Prague last weekend, shone on his debut, becoming the first goalkeeper to shut Liverpool out since Matz Sels for Nottingham Forest, who inflicted the Reds’ last defeat back in September.
It also means that the 21-year-old Czech has already kept as many clean sheets at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season as Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster combined.
His debut ended with emotional scenes, as he climbed into the stands to embrace his sister.
“Yesterday, I found out there was a possibility of me being in goal today, so I call them immediately,” Kinsky said.
“My sister came, her boyfriend and my parents. I was so happy to have them here [on] such a special night.”
Clearly exceptionally comfortable in possession, completing 32 of 45 passes, Kinsky seems bound to make his Premier League debut in next Wednesday’s north London derby at Arsenal, which comes after an FA Cup third round trip to non-league Tamworth on Sunday.
Postecoglou will be delighted to have at his disposal a ‘keeper who slots seamlessly into his preferred system - which he made clear he would not deviate from despite Vicario’s spell on the sidelines.
And the Spurs head coach will be equally, if not even more, delighted with another of his young charges: goalscorer Bergvall.
The 18-year-old Swede, who could have an integral part to play in the coming weeks amid Spurs' injury crisis, produced perhaps his best performance since arriving from Swedish club Djurgardens IF last summer, excelling in the freedom of a more advanced midfield role.
Operating in this position allowed him to take up the ideal position to score the decisive goal, perfectly anticipating Dominic Solanke’s fantastic swivel and square ball before emphatically finishing past Alisson.
Bergvall's winner v Liverpool
Liverpool were aggrieved, however, as they felt he should not have been on the pitch, having escaped a second yellow card for a tackle just minutes beforehand that left Kostas Tsimikas off the pitch and receiving treatment while Bergvall scored.
Postecoglou, however, gave a passionate interview to Sky Sports post-match to explain why Bergvall was right to stay on the pitch.
Bentancur update
There was a horrible moment early in the first half when Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur went for a header from a corner and collapsed to the floor with no one around him, leading to a lengthy delay before the Uruguayan was carried off on a stretcher to applause from both sets of fans.
Spurs said Bentancur was conscious and was taken to hospital for medical checks, and later the player posted on Instagram to say he was OK.
Spurs have posted an update on their official website, too, with Postecoglou saying: "There's nothing too detailed [at this stage]. He was conscious when he came off the field and he’s been taken to hospital for some observations so we’re hoping he’ll be OK.
"It was pretty distressing at the time, seeing him go down like that, for the players. Dealing with adversity, these players just compose themselves and responded to it really well."
Liverpool two matches without a win
For Liverpool, even if a loss was hard to swallow, the visitors could hardly say they deserved to win this match.
Conor Bradley was a bright spark at right-back, in the wake of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s below-par performance during Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Manchester United. He might at least have given Arne Slot food for thought ahead of next Tuesday’s league trip to Nottingham Forest, but Liverpool were undeniably some way below their best here.
Should the Reds be panicking after going two matches without a win for the first time in the Slot era? Probably not, especially after making four changes from the Man Utd draw, but with three of their next four Premier League outings coming away from Anfield, it’s important that they react well at home to League Two Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
For the first time in nine appearances in all competitions, and the first time in 12 domestically, Mohamed Salah failed to either score or assist, Spurs becoming the first team to deny the Egyptian a goal involvement since Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League at the end of November.
There was a brilliant moment before the game featuring Spurs' mascots, one of whom told Virgil van Dijk to sign for Spurs because of their defensive injury crisis at the moment. So, it was apt that a defence without Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie went on to keep out Salah and high-flying Liverpool.
But with the insatiable hunger Salah shows to make his mark at the sharp end of the pitch, that might prove to be something of a blessing in disguise for Liverpool: ideally, he won’t let the "drought" last more than one game.
Facing fourth-tier opposition in the FA Cup this weekend ought to give Slot an opportunity to really ring the changes after an intense period of 10 fixtures since the beginning of December.
Keeping things fresh is of the essence: Liverpool can, for 24 hours at least, extend their Premier League over Arsenal to nine points by beating Forest.
EFL Cup semi-final results and fixtures
First leg