LONDON: Tottenham showed there is life after Harry Kane with a 2-0 win over Manchester United on Saturday as Liverpool shrugged off a red card for Alexis Mac Allister to beat Bournemouth 3-1.
Spurs were playing for the first time at home since record goalscorer Kane departed for Bayern Munich. But in Ange Postecoglou’s first match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the home side showed promising signs of a new era as Pape Sarr’s strike and Lisandro Martinez’s own goal continued United’s sluggish start to the season.
Erik ten Hag’s men escaped with a 1-0 victory at home to Wolves on Monday despite being outplayed. This time United were punished as they faded after a bright start. Bruno Fernandes should have headed the visitors in front midway through the first-half.
Spurs ended the opening period in the ascendency as Pedro Porro rattled the crossbar. And the Postecoglou’s men got their reward when Sarr smashed home his first goal for the club on 49 minutes.
A comedy of errors summed up United’s day for the second goal as Ben Davies failed to connect with Ivan Perisic’s cross and Martinez could only turn it beyond the flat-footed Andre Onana.
United’s decision not to rival Bayern with a bid for Kane will now face more scrutiny as they looked toothless without new striker Rasmus Hojlund due to injury. Liverpool recovered from a terrible start and the controversial loss of Mac Allister to get their frist win of the season.
Bournemouth had lost 9-0 on their visit to Anfield a year ago but led inside three minutes when Antoine Semenyo drilled into the far corner. Liverpool needed some inspiration to kickstart their season after a 1-1 draw at Chelsea last weekend.
Luis Diaz provided it as he flicked up Diogo Jota’s cross and then acrobatically fired an overhead kick into the bottom corner. Jurgen Klopp’s men led nine minutes before half-time, but Mohamed Salah needed a second opportunity to tap in the rebound after Neto had saved his penalty.
The Egyptian has now failed to score three of his last five penalties, but edged ahead of Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s fifth highest scorer of all time on 187. Momentum could have swung back Bournemouth’s way when Mac Allister was harshly shown a straight red card for leading with his studs on Ryan Christie, despite minimal contact with the Scotland international.
“I saw the red card back and for sure we have to talk about it. I understand 100 percent how it looks for a ref in that moment, but when you see it back it is the inside of the foot and no power behind it,” Klopp said.
But the 10 men added to their lead within four minutes when Jota pounced after Neto could only palm Dominik Szoboszlai’s effort into his path.
Japan captain Wataru Endo was then introduced after Liverpool finally landed a defensive midfielder on Friday after losing out on Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia to Chelsea. Brighton banked a British record transfer fee that could rise to £115 million ($146 million) for Caicedo on Monday.
But the Seagulls continue to soar under Roberto De Zerbi despite seeing their best players picked off by the Premier League’s elite. Kaoru Mitoma may be the next big-money departure and the Japanese international opened the scoring in stunning style at Molineux as he slalomed past four Wolves defenders before producing a classy finish.
In stark contrast to their performance at Old Trafford, Wolves had no answer to Brighton’s speed of passing and movement as the visitors scored three times in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Mitoma teed up Pervis Estupinan to smash home for 2-0 before Solly March scored twice from Julio Enciso assists
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