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Played
September 18, 2011 1:30 PM BST
White Hart Lane — London
Referee:‬ M. Jones‎
Attendance:‬ 36129‎
 
 
 
 
 

Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool: Modric, Defoe & Adebayor on target as Adam & Skrtel red cards sum up dreadful day for Dalglish

Four goals from Spurs illustrates the sheer control Harry Redknapp's men had as Kenny Dalglish could do little as his side imploded in a horrific display from the Merseyside outfit

By Steve Hewlett

Luka Modric, Tottenham v Liverpool
Getty Images
A dominant display from Tottenham with goals from Luka Modric, Jermain Defoe and a brace from Emmanuel Adebayor were too much for Liverpool as the visitors had Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel sent off in a game which the home side controlled from start to finish.

Tottenham erased any memories of the drubbing to Manchester City as home debutants Adebayor and Scott Parker started against a Reds side who never looked like winning.

The home side had set themselves up to get at Liverpool right from the first whistle. Adebayor could have banished any memories of his Arsenal days when his effort after four minutes spilled wide of the Liverpool goal. The move was instigated by the Togolese man and involved Niko Kranjcar, but the final touch was wayward.

The pressure continued with Gareth Bale ghosting down the left wing before finding Defoe, whose clever control allowed Modric to steam in and smash the ball into the far corner of Pepe Reina’s net. The finish was emphatic and was just reward for the positivity shown by Tottenham right from the off.

Liverpool showed no response to going behind and the Croat was causing mayhem again as he hit a low shot across the goal, forcing Reina to dive low to his left to keep the scoreline the same.

Kenny Dalglish was growing more and more restless on the sidelines as shambolic defensive positioning was the catalyst for sustained Tottenham threats.

A surprise break in the one-way nature of the game came when Kyle Walker’s error allowed Andy Carroll to play through to strike partner Luis Suarez, whose cool finish seemingly gave Liverpool parity, only for referee Mike Jones to call it back for offside against the Uruguayan. Television replays were clear in showing the right decision was made.

The problems continued to mount up for the visitors as Daniel Agger was brought off with a bad injury and replaced by new recruit Sebastian Coates, but worse was to come as Charlie Adam, who was already on a yellow, went in high for a 50/50 ball with Parker and only made contact with the player's thigh. The Scot knew his fate immediately and the second yellow card was swiftly shown. Any gameplan Dalglish had was discarded with a first-choice defender on the physio’s table and his playmaker in the showers.

Liverpool could have been plunged deeper into the mire when another great run from Adebayor was halted by Coates on the edge of the area. A yellow card was shown once more but it could have been red, with only the presence of Jose Enrique preventing that outcome.

Everything seemed to be going wrong for Liverpool as they limped towards half-time with another booking, this time for Suarez for sarcastically applauding when a decision went the Reds’ way, but the deficit, despite the dominance of Tottenham, was still only a single goal.

After the break it was more of the same. Tottenham had all the ball and were in total control of the game, and this advantage was reinforced when yet another yellow card was enough to see Martin Skrtel dismissed. Skrtel had been chasing Bale all afternoon and frustration took over as he clearly fouled the Welsh winger.

With Liverpool now down to nine men the space available to the home side was huge. Each Liverpool man now had vast expanses of greenery to cover and this mammoth task was exploited by second-half substitute Rafael van der Vaart as his probing forward pass to Defoe allowed the England man to run almost unimpeded on goal. The intervention of Enrique could do nothing as Defoe lost his man and slotted home to kill off any chance Liverpool had of coming back into the match.

Adebayor then endeared himself to White Hart Lane a little more when a mistake from Reina allowed the former Manchester City striker to make it 3-0.

From there, Tottenham were happy to knock the ball around knowing that the nine red shirts could do little about it and the three points were safely won. But things got worse for Liverpool in the final minute when Adebayor, after Craig Bellamy had lost possession, made it 4-0 on the final whistle to punctuate a horrible afternoon for Dalglish's side.

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Tottenham

24
Brad Friedel
Goalkeeper
3.5
28
Kyle Walker
Defender
3.5
4
Younes Kaboul
Defender
4.0
26
Ledley King
Defender
84′
4.0
32
3.5
21
Niko Kranjcar
Midfielder
46′
3.5
8
Scott Parker
Midfielder
4.0
14
Luka Modric
Midfielder
7′
4.0
3
Gareth Bale
Midfielder
3.5
10
4.0
18
Jermain Defoe
Striker
66′ 68′ 84′
4.0

Liverpool

2.5
25
José Reina Paez
Goalkeeper
2.0
37
Martin Skrtel
Defender
36′ 63′
2.5
23
Jamie Carragher
Defender
3.0
5
Daniel Agger
Defender
27′
2.5
3
José Enrique
Defender
2.5
14
Jordan Henderson
Midfielder
2.5
21
Lucas
Midfielder
1.5
26
Charlie Adam
Midfielder
12′ 28′
2.5
19
Stewart Downing
Midfielder
70′
2.5
7
Luis Suárez
Striker
49′ 70′
2.0
9
Andy Carroll
Striker

Substitutes

23
Carlo Cudicini
Goalkeeper
-
19
S. Bassong
Defender
84′
-
14
Vedran Corluka
Defender
-
11
3.5
29
Jake Livermore
Midfielder
-
9
-
17
-

Substitutes

-
32
Doni
Goalkeeper
2.5
16
-
49
Jack Robinson
Midfielder
-
11
Maxi Rodríguez
Midfielder
2.5
20
Jay Spearing
Midfielder
70′
-
18
Dirk Kuyt
Midfielder
2.5
39
Craig Bellamy
Striker
70′

Coach/Manager

-
-

Coach/Manager

-
-
 
  • Goal
  • Own Goal
  • Penalty
  • Penalty Missed
  • Yellow Card
  • Assist
  • Penalty Save
  • Penalty Shootout Goal
  • Penalty Shootout Miss
  • Yellow Card / Red Card
  • Red Card
  • Substitution IN
  • Substitution OUT
  • Injury
  • Goal.com Rating
  • Goal.com Man of the Match
  • Goal.com Flop of the Match
  • Top & Flop Global Ranking
  • Fans' Man of the Match
  • Fans' Flop of the Match
Results
 
Match News
Top Scorers
Player   Goals Penalties
Robin van Persie Robin van Persie
Striker
Arsenal
30 2
Wayne Rooney Wayne Rooney
Striker
Manchester United
27 6
Kun Agüero Kun Agüero
Striker
Manchester City
23 3
Aiyegbeni Yakubu Aiyegbeni Yakubu
Striker
Blackburn
17 4
Emmanuel Adebayor Emmanuel Adebayor
Striker
Tottenham
17 3