Spurs 4-1 Liverpool - report from Wembley

As expected, the team moved on quickly from the magnitude of the display and 1-1 draw against Real Madrid on Tuesday night and flew out of the traps, the foundations of this win laid in that dominant first 20 minutes.

Harry Kane opened the scoring on four minutes and then provided Heung-Min Son with the chance to fire home the second on 12 minutes, a classic counter-attack that started with Hugo Lloris' throw and finished with the ball in the net four touches later. The South Korean clattered the woodwork four minutes after that.

Liverpool, always a threat going forward, pulled a goal back on 23 minutes through Mohamed Salah but it was brief respite for the Reds in that first half as we came firing back, Son and Kane twice going close.

The third goal arrived with perfect timing just seconds before half-time. Christian Eriksen floated in a free-kick, Joel Matip headed out to Dele Alli who volleyed home from 16 yards.

The match was put out of Liverpool's reach with the fourth goal 10 minutes into the second half, Kane there again to pounce for Spurs goal number 112 after Jan Vertonghen's effort was cleared off the line.

It was just left to Lloris to make his mark with three late saves - the first, from Philippe Coutinho, another for the Frenchman's highlight reel.

Team news

Mauricio Pochettino made three changes to the team that started against Real Madrid the Champions League on Tuesday night. Kieran Trippier, Dele and Son came back in for Fernando Llorente, Eric Dier and Moussa Sissoko. Ben Davies was back on the bench after illness where he was joined by Danny Rose. Trippier started on the right, Aurier on the left.

Key action

Goal: Spurs 1-0 Liverpool - Harry Kane - 4mins
Trippier lifted the ball in to Kane in the right channel, Kane timed his run to perfection to beat the off-side flag and was confronted immediately by Simon Mignolet rushing at him, but he skipped inside the keeper and finished with his left foot.

Goal: Spurs 2-0 Liverpool - Heung-min Son - 12mins
A textbook, lightning counter-attack. Lloris claimed James Milner's cross from the right, spotted Kane and threw out to him immediately. Dejan Lovren went to win it, Kane spun him and was away down the right channel. Two touches later and he spotted Son sprinting through the middle, delivered the pass and Son did the rest with a fabulous first-time finish from 16 yards.

 
Above: Serge Aurier up against Mohamed Salah.

Woodwork: Son so close - 16mins
Trippier won possession, was fouled and took the free-kick quickly to Eriksen. He picked out Son's run across goal and he took the ball in his stride before hitting a volley back across Mignolet that rattled the crossbar.

Goal: Spurs 2-1 Liverpool - Mohamed Salah - 24mins
Kane appealed for a foul on half-way under pressure from three Liverpool players but play continued, Jordan Henderson dropped a pass over the top for Salah to chase, he got there and then bobbled a side-foot shot home off the post.

Chances: opportunities to extend our lead - 29-45mins
We reacted well to Liverpool's goal. Son was denied by Mignolet one-on-one after Dele's eye of the needle pass, Kane then got in behind again, his effort this time blocked by Lovren. Later on, Kane ran the Reds' back line ragged again, turning away from several defenders before firing into the side-netting.

Goal: Spurs 3-1 Liverpool - Dele Alli - 45+2mins
Dele was initially chopped down by Emre Can, who was booked. Eriksen clipped in the free-kick, Joel Matip headed it out into the path of Dele who needed no second invitation to drill into the corner on the volley from just inside the box. Perfect timing just before half-time.

Goal: Spurs 4-1 Liverpool - Harry Kane - 56mins
Mignolet came out for Trippier's free-kick from the right but could only touch the ball out to Jan Vertonghen, he hit the target, only for Roberto Firmino to block on the line but Kane latched onto the rebound and lashed home.

Saves: more brilliance from Lloris - 67-77mins
Lloris made sure there was no late rally from the Reds with three late saves. The first was the pick as he clawed Coutinho's 25-yarder onto the post. He then saved twice with his feet, denying Salah on both occasions.

Mauricio Pochettino said

"It was an unbelievable performance, I'm very pleased and I’d like to congratulate our players (for) a fantastic effort. I’d like to thank our fans again, 80,000 fans helping us and it’s so good because the result will help give us the confidence we need for the rest of the season and we start to feel Wembley can be our home. We always have a plan, sometimes it works, sometimes not and I think today we started the game really well. I’m so happy with our players, their effort is fantastic. We demand a lot and they are pushing, working so hard and they deserve the credit because they deliver the job on the pitch."

Dele said

"It was great to get the two goals early and that made us maybe change our game plan a little - maybe we didn’t expect to score that soon and we sat off them more than we expected. It was a very professional performance, we're disappointed to concede but they are always going to get chances, they are a great side and it was about how we dealt with them. Everyone played fantastic all over the pitch, Hugo made big saves at crucial times, the defence was solid, myself, Winksy and Chris (Eriksen) played well together and Harry (Kane) and Sonny did what they do best."

Match data

Spurs (3-5-2): Lloris (c), Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Trippier, Winks, Dele, Eriksen (Dier 81), Aurier, Son (Sissoko 69), Kane (Llorente 88). Substitutes (not used): Vorm, Davies, Rose, Nkoudou.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet, Gomez, Matip, Lovren (Oxlade-Chamberlain 32), Moreno, Milner, Henderson (c), Can (Grujic 83), Salah, Firmino (Sturridge 77), Coutinho. Substitutes (not used): Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Klavan, Solanke.

Goals: Spurs - Kane 4, 56, Son 12, Dele 45+2; Liverpool - Salah 24.

Yellow card: Liverpool - Can 45+2.

Referee: Andre Marriner.

Attendance: 80,827.

Man of the match

Two-goal Harry Kane was named Man of the Match by our supporters on social media with 65 per cent of the votes.