Richy secures precious point at Anfield

A dramatic late goal from Richarlison gave us a huge morale-boosting draw at Anfield as we ended a six-match losing run against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

The Brazil international forward had an ongoing battle with compatriot Alisson in the Liverpool goal, who thwarted him three times with big saves until the 90th minute, when Richarlison finally got the goal he richly deserved to cancel out Dominik Szoboszlai’s excellent first-half free-kick.

Despite a long injury list and arriving at Anfield with only seven substitutes, which included two goalkeepers and three teenagers, we more than matched the home side and produced a real battling performance to give Head Coach Igor Tudor his first point in his fourth Premier League game in charge.

There were a couple of milestone moments for our Academy as well – Callum Olusesi making his Premier League bow while James Rowswell became Legacy Number 904 when he came on in injury time for his senior debut.

We made a bright start on Merseyside and almost took the lead with two chances falling to Souza in the 11th minute. Playing in an unfamiliar position off the right flank, he couldn’t quite get on the end of Dominic Solanke’s ball into the edge of the six-yard box before, just seconds later, he let fly with a 25-yard left-foot rocket that Alisson did well to push over the crossbar.

However, there was obvious danger when Liverpool were awarded a free-kick 22 yards out and sure enough, Szoboszlai’s right-foot effort beat our wall and Guglielmo Vicario’s dive, even though he got a good hand to the ball, to give the home side the lead with 18 minutes gone. They nearly added a second on 35 minutes but this time Vicario’s hand did save the day, an excellent diving stop down to his right to tip Cody Gakpo’s shot from the edge of the area onto the post.

We’d been second best since the goal but went so close to levelling it up twice in the final stages of the first half. Both were Richarlison headers from Mathys Tel crosses, the first nodded just past the post and the second moments later needed another good stop from Alisson to preserve Liverpool’s lead as we trailed at the interval.

The first opportunity of the second period was a half chance for Rio Ngumoha, who curled wide from a right-foot shot and then hit a similar effort straight at Vicario. But again, Richarlison found himself with a good opportunity at the other end, latching onto a long ball and holding off Virgil van Dijk before getting a shot away which Alisson pushed away for a corner.

It became quite an end-to-end game, both teams with good possession in the final third if not fashioning clear-cut chances although Richarlison tested Alisson once again with a fine effort from 20 yards while substitutes Liverpool substitutes Mo Salah and Hugo Ekitike fluffed their lines on a swift counter by the home side. The near misses kept coming, Ryan Gravenberch’s deflected shot looping up into Vicario’s arms before Archie Gray’s cross from the left was just centimetres too high for Richarlison unmarked in the box.

As the game entered its final few minutes, Xavi Simons cut in onto his right foot but his low curler was saved by Alisson. Then, in the 90th minute, Randal Kolo Muani gathered a poor clearance from Andy Robertson, moved into the area and laid the ball off for Richarlison to finally get the goal he deserved, rolling into the far corner to beat Alisson.

The five minutes of stoppage time were crazy, both sides going for the winner and both having promising counter-attacks which fizzled out to nothing when a better pass would have probably won the game. In the end though, we settled for the point – and it could be huge for morale and confidence for the rest of the season.

Match data

Goals: Liverpool – Szoboszlai 18; Spurs – Richarlison 90.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh.

Venue: Anfield, Liverpool.

Weather: Light rain, fresh breeze, nine degrees.