Tottenham vs Liverpool LIVE: Carabao Cup result and reaction as Lucas Bergvall scores late winner
Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool: Bergvall’s late goal ensures Spurs take a lead into the second leg at Anfield.
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Your support makes all the difference.Lucas Bergvall earned Tottenham a slim lead over Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
A match lacking in talking points will be overshadowed by the injury to Rodrigo Bentancur who collapsed in the early stages of the first half and needed to be subbed off the pitch and taken to hospital.
The game was paused for eight minutes while the midfielder was treated and following the resumption the players were visible shook by the incident.
The second half saw an increase in tempo. Trent Alexander-Arnold, making an appearance off the bench, had a shot cleared off the line and Dominic Solanke saw a goal ruled out by VAR for being offside.
The match looked to be heading for a stalemate before Solanke picked out Bergvall in the box and set up the youngster’s first goal for Spurs as the hosts clinched a 1-0 win and take a lead into the second leg at Anfield.
Relive the Carabao Cup action with our live blog below:
Tottenham’s impressive maturity could be the key to saving their season
It’s a bit early to say this was a night when Tottenham Hotspur’s young team came of age, but this was an impressive show of maturity when they most needed it. It might well save their season, just as Liverpool’s has a slight sense of lag. The Premier League leaders were still very energised about the Lucas Bergvall goal that won this Carabao Cup semi-final first leg, with complaints that the goalscorer should have had a second booking eventually seeing Arne Slot unusually losing his cool.
It was symbolic of a display where Liverpool were nowhere near the smoothness of the opening months of the campaign. Duly, this was the first time this season they went two games without a win, after Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United.
Tottenham’s impressive maturity could be the key to saving their season
Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool: Lucas Bergvall scored the winning goal as Spurs’ performance against Liverpool showed signs of much-needed improvement
Kinsky on who he was celebrating with at the end:
“It was my sister because yesterday I got to know there is a possibility of me being in goal today so I called them immediately, my sister came, her boyfriend, my parents, I was so happy to have them here on such a special night.
“That was him [his dad, a former goalkeeper, shown in the stands] I hope he’s proud. The whole family, my grandfather was also a goalkeeper, he was watching as well. I hope they are all happy.”
Antonin Kinsky speaking to Sky Sports:
“I would say I’m a big dreamer, I always make my own visions of the future. Probably this dream I have never dreamt this one yeah, amazing.
“I’m really happy for the whole club. I came three days ago, everything worked so good, all the people are kind. I’m so happy for them and the whole team but this is just the first leg.”
More from Postecoglou
The Tottenham boss also gave his thoughts on Antonin Kinsky’s debut, Dominic Solanke and what he thought of the VAR announcement.
Postecoglou said: “That is a big occasion for a young man [Antonin Kinsky making his debut]. He handled himself outstandingly.”
On Dominic Solanke he added: “I don’t know where he gets the energy from. He keeps soldiering on. An unbelievable finish, I thought we deserved it on the night. We deserved the victory and really pleased the players get rewards.
”If people think that announcement [of VAR’s decision to rule out Solanke’s goal] added anything to the game tonight then I am sorry. It used to be you put your flag up and the game goes on, but anyway.”
Ange Postecoglou speaking to Sky Sports:
“We are having to deal with adversity all the time. We started really well and then lost a key player. This lot are nothing if not resiliant and they keep going and they did today.
“It is incredible when you think we had a couple of 18-year-olds out there. I have just seen so much growth. I have no doubt we will get through this period and get players back, what I’ve found in the meantime is we have some real players to help us to be the team we want to be.”
Van Dijk on whether Liverpool were below their best:
“At times I think we could have done better, that’s part of football as well. We try to play our best game, every one of us and at times we played through them nicely and created some one v ones and some dangerous moments. They were able to defend it better than they did when we played here a couple of weeks ago.
“We move on, we take it on the chin, it’s half-time, we have another 90 plus minutes to go and I’m really looking forward to them.”
More from Virgil van Dijk speaking to Sky Sports:
“We played against an intense team with good attacking players, they can make it difficult, keep running.
“We created good moments, good opportunities at times, not really clear-cut chances in my opinion but still enough that we could have scored, unfortunately but we didn’t.
“It’s half-time now and I’m looking forward to the game back at Anfield.”
Ange Postecoglou on Rodrigo Bentancur
Speaking to Sky Sports, Postecoglou said: “I don’t have all the information. My understanding is he is conscious and he was conscious when he got to the dressing room. We took him to hospital to get him checked over.
“It was worrying and always a concern but from what I know hopefully he will be OK.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk speaking to Sky Sports:
“I think it was quite obvious it was going to be a second yellow [for Lucas Bergvall]. I think it was pretty clear. It was a coincidence and a minute later he scores the winner.
“It is what it is. He [the referee] made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that. He thinks he didn’t but it was quite obvious I think and everyone on the sidelines knew it was supposed to be a yellow.
“There’s a linesman there, a fourth official there, there’s VAR, a referee and he doesn’t get a second yellow. I’m not saying this is the reason why we lost tonight but it was a big moment in the game.”
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