Tottenham Hotspur have one foot in the Carabao Cup final after a narrow 1-0 win in the first leg of their semi-final in north London on Wednesday evening.
An 86th-minute goal from teenage midfielder Lucas Bergvall gives Ange Postecoglou’s side an overall lead they can defend in the second leg at Anfield next month.
An already exhausted Spurs were dealt another blow early on when Rodrigo Bentancur suffered a heavy fall as he stooped to head the ball at a corner. The Uruguayan was administered oxygen on the pitch before being placed on a stretcher and was later confirmed to be conscious and speaking.
Liverpool also lost a player to injury in the first half, with Jarell Quansah apparently missing with a muscle problem and leaving the pitch after 30 minutes.
Both teams had chances to take the lead at various times, with Pedro Porro failing to find the net after a Liverpool error on one side and Trent Alexander-Arnold clearing a shot off the line on the other. Dominic Solanke even had the ball in the net, but the VAR intervened due to offside.
Solanke was involved again when Bergvall scored, fighting to win the ball from Ibrahima Konate and putting the ball in the net for his young teammate. Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky also had a memorable night on his debut, making a brilliant stoppage-time save to deny Luis Diaz’s equaliser.
*Reviews provided by Fotmob*
player | Evaluation |
|---|---|
GK: Antonin Kinsky | 8.8/10 |
RB: Pedro Porro | 7.0/10 |
CB: Radu Dragusin | 7.4/10 |
CB: Archie Grey | 7.6/10 |
LB: Djed Spence | 8.0/10 |
CM: Lucas Bergvall | 8.2/10 |
CM: Yves Bissouma | 7.7/10 |
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur | 6.2/10 |
RW: Dejan Kulusevski | 6.6/10 |
ST: Dominic Solanke | 7.5/10 |
LW: Son Heung-min (c) | 6.8/10 |
Substitute: Brennan Johnson (15′ for Bentancur) | 6.2/10 |
Substitute: Timo Werner (72nd for Son) | 6.7/10 |
Subs not used: Brandon Austin (TW), Alfie Dorrington, Sergio Reguilon, Callum Olusesi, Yang Min-Hyeok, Mikey Moore, Will Lankshear.
*Reviews provided by Fotmob*
player | Evaluation |
|---|---|
GK: Alisson | 7.0/10 |
RB: Conor Bradley | 6.7/10 |
CB: Jarell Quansah | 6.7/10 |
CB: Virgil van Dijk (c) | 7.5/10 |
LB: Kostas Tsimikas | 7.5/10 |
CM: Alexis Mac Allister | 7.2/10 |
CM: Ryan Gravenberch | 6.8/10 |
RM: Mohamed Salah | 6.0/10 |
AM: Curtis Jones | 6.5/10 |
LM: Cody Gakpo | 6.9/10 |
ST: Diogo Jota | 6.0/10 |
Substitute player: Wataru Endo (30th minute for Quansah) | 6.5/10 |
Substitute: Trent Alexander-Arnold (60′ for Bradley) | 6.8/10 |
Substitute: Darwin Nunez (60′ for Jota) | 6.6/10 |
Substitute: Luis Diaz (60th minute for Gakpo) | 6.5/10 |
SUB: Ibrahima Konate (80′ for Mac Allister) | 6.0/10 |
Substitutes not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (TW), Andrew Robertson, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa.