Liverpool fell to Tottenham in the semi-final first leg, their second defeat of the season

We were far from the 3-6 of December 22 in the Premier League. Two and a half weeks after the Reds’ defeat in the league, Tottenham and Liverpool met this Wednesday in the semi-final first leg of the English League Cup, at the Tottenham Hostpur Stadium. And the Spurs had the last word this time (1-0), at the end of a meeting which took time to really get going.

Unfortunately for football, the first act was not very exciting and was mainly marked by the worrying exit on a stretcher of Rodrigo Bentancur who, at a corner, collapsed to the ground before being taken care of for around ten minutes by the staff medical. “Aware» and quickly transported to hospital according to the first information transmitted by his club, the Uruguayan midfielder was warmly applauded by the public, replaced by Brennan Johnson. The scene, heavy, remained in everyone’s heads for a long time while on the pitch, the opportunities were lacking. Mohamed Salah’s Reds, not very dangerous apart from the activity of Cody Gakpo, lacked edge just like their London opponents.

The unexpected hero Bergvall

In the second half, it could not be otherwise, the two teams competed more. Porro missed a face-to-face encounter in front of Alisson (57th), Nunez also on the other side against Kinsky (69th), a young Czech goalkeeper recruited by Tottenham last weekend and impassable this evening. Dragusin saved a few moments later on his line a half-volley signed Alexander-Arnold (71st), then happy to see the video referee refuse Solanke’s goal for a precise offside (76th). It was only a postponement for the Spurs who finally opened the scoring by the young Swede Bergvall (86th), served behind by Solanke. This same Bergvall who (undoubtedly) should have received a second yellow card a few moments earlier for a late tackle on Tsimikas.

This is not the case, Tottenham wins 1-0 and takes a slight option in the final at Wembley. The semi-final return will take place on February 6, the day after the other Newcastle-Arsenal semi-final (2-0 first leg). Defeated, Liverpool conceded only their second setback of the season in all competitions, after that against Nottingham (0-1) in the Premier League on September 14.