Premier League 2, Division 1, 2017-18
     Lamex Stadium, Broadhall Way, Stevenage
         Monday 5th February 2018, 7pm

            SPURS     v    LIVERPOOL
         (White/Blue)      (All Red)
           4-1-4-1          4-2-3-1

             1(0)             0(0)

       Luke O'Reilly  1  Kamil Grabara
       Timothy Eyoma  2  Conor Masterson
         Jaden Brown  3  Adam Lewis
      George Marsh(C) 4  George Johnston
   Christian Maghoma  5  Tony Gallacher
    Jonathan Dinzeyi  6  Charlie Lyons
       Shilow Tracey  7  Herbie Kane(C)
        Dylan Duncan  8  Adam Lallana
    Kazaiah Sterling  9  Danny Ings
          Jack Roles 10  Dominic Solanke
     Keanan Bennetts 11  Ben Woodburn

Tashan Oakley-Boothe 12  Rafael Camacho
           (8)62Mins
     Jonathan De Bie 13  Caoimhin Kelleher
     Samuel Shashoua 14  Liam Millar
           (9)84Mins     (7)71Mins
    Joseph Pritchard 15  Toni Gomes
        Oliver Skipp 16  Neco Williams
           (6)78Mins

Scorer:-
            Roles 55 

Booked:-
      Eyoma 37(Foul)     Johnston 36(Foul), 87(Trip)
      Marsh 46(Foul)     Lewis 69(Foul)
      Brown 84(KBA)
      Roles 90+1(Foul)

Sent Off:-
                         Lallana 63 (Violent conduct)
                         Johnston 87(2 Yellows)

Coach:-
      Wayne Burnett      Neil Critchley

Attendance:- 891

Referee:– David Rock
Assistants:– Dan Boneywell & Nick Dunn
Fourth Official:– Stephen Bates

Vital win for Spurs. Lallana sent off for Liverpool

It was a cold evening for the visit of PL2 league leaders Liverpool to Stevenage. Having lost two matches the "Reds" were back to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Derby. Spurs came into the match having won for the first time at Old Trafford 3-1 to lift them off the bottom of the table. Last season Liverpool won 6-2 at the Lamex and have already beaten Spurs 4-2 this season at Anfield.

Spurs lined up with debutant O'Reilly in goal behind Maghoma and Dinzeyi with Eyoma at right back and Brown on the left. Marsh anchored the midfield with Roles and Duncan ahead of him flanked by Tracey on the right and Bennetts on the left in support of Sterling up front. Liverpool had four first teamers in their starting line-up. This included Ings and Solanke who were on the bench at Anfield the day before, along with Adam Lallana and 18 year old Welsh International Ben Woodburn.

Spurs defended the North end in the first half which was an open end to end game. Liverpool got players into the Spurs area in the third minute but failed to trouble O'Reilly thanks to the defenders in front of him. Eyoma squared the ball to Duncan who drove wide and soon after that Bennetts also fired wide across the goal.

Woodburn crossed for Solanke to fire wide. Woodburn got down the left and crossed for Solanke to head, but O'Reilly saved and got down to also save from Ings' follow-up. Ings shot over before Spurs got bodies into the Liverpool area but failed to get a shot on the goal. Sterling drew a save in another attack before Bennetts fired over from Tracey's ball from the right.

Johnston was booked for a foul on Sterling as he tried to get through. Sterling provided a heading chance for Tracey which was saved. Eyoma was booked stopping a break by the visitors. Bennetts' run and pull-back allowed Roles to hit a stunner which Grabara saved well and Tracey's follow-up went for a corner. Roles had another effort before the break which was deflected for a corner.

There were no changes for the start of the second half which saw an early booking for Marsh for a tackle from behind. Lewis got forward to have his effort blocked from Lallana's pass. Bennetts played in Sterling on the left who drew a save from Grabara at his near post.

Spurs' pace up front was causing the visitors more and more problems. Marsh played Sterling through the middle with the striker laying the ball off for Roles to fire over. Spurs took the lead when Bennetts ran down the left and squared to Roles who volleyed home despite Grabara getting a hand to it. This was Jack Roles' fourth goal in consecutive games.

Sterling got behind the defence before playing in Tracey to fire over. Spurs made the first change with Duncan replaced by Oakley-Boothe in midfield. Liverpool's problems increased when Lallana was sent off for grabbing Marsh by the throat when he lost out to the Spurs captain challenging for a high ball. Lallana, who has only made one Premier League start for Liverpool this season will now face a three-match ban, although I understand that unlike the old reserve league matches this offence will not affect his appearances in Premier League games.

Liverpool lost their composure with Lewis booked for a foul on Tracey as he got past him in the left corner. Dinzeyi came off and was replaced by Skipp who took over the anchor role as Marsh dropped to right back to allow Eyoma to move into the centre alongside Maghoma. Brown was booked for kicking the ball away when it went out of play just before Spurs made their last change replacing Sterling with Shashoua.

When Eyoma carried the ball out of defence Johnston tripped him up to get his second booking leaving his side with nine men for the last few minutes. As the game went into added time Roles went into the ref's book for a foul to stop Liverpool clearing their lines. As Liverpool tried to push for an equaliser Solanke had a header saved. Shashoua had the last chance of the night when his effort was saved.

The game was open from the start which as it progressed proved a problem for the Liverpool defence as they could not handle the pace of the Spurs attack. Roles and Duncan showed Lallana no respect in midfield and Ings got more and more frustrated by the strong Spurs defence and resorted to niggly fouls as the ref was not helping him. Overall it was a good performance from Spurs for the second game in a row. Unfortunately Sunderland also won this evening to stay a point better than Spurs. Spurs' next scheduled games are trips to Dagenham & Redbridge's ground next Monday for West Ham and then to Swansea on the 16th. Swansea beat Manchester City in their last game to go fourth.

Ray

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