Liverpool suffered their second loss of the season at the hands of Leicester City in a game in which Mohamed Salah missed a penalty. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton, who played with ten men for a large part of the game.
It seemed to be business as usual for Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool side when the referee awarded them a penalty. Mohamed Salah had been fouled inside the penalty box by makeshift centre-back Wilfred Ndidi, and the Egyptian himself was to take the spot-kick. However, Kasper Schmeichel guessed right to deny Salah his customary goal and the winger’s follow-up rattled the crossbar before being cleared away to safety.
Liverpool created plenty, but rarely did they test Schmeichel. The Dane was called into action in the 54th minute as Sadio Mane raced clear on goal, but, in the end, he did not have a save to make as the Senegal international blasted his shot over the bar from close range.
To make matters worse for the Reds, Ademola Lookman scored the only goal of the game five minutes later; the substitute played a pass to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, received it back in the channel between the defenders, and beat Alisson at his near post with a powerful drive. The loss meant Liverpool remained stuck on 41 points, six behind pacesetters Manchester City.
Elsewhere, Tottenham’s attempts to gatecrash into the top four, under new manager Antonio Conte, were thwarted by the ten men of Southampton. Saints took the lead in the 25th minute through captain James Ward-Prowse’s second goal in as many games. The England international scored with a stunning volley after Mohammed Salisu’s long throw had bounced off Dele Alli and fallen kindly in his path.
Spurs were provided a path back into the game by Salisu, who picked up his second yellow after fouling Son Heung-min inside his box. Harry Kane scored from the spot to level the scores just before the break. The striker thought he scored what would’ve been the go-ahead goal for Spurs in the 53rd minute, but replays showed the England captain to be marginally offside. Sometime later, Matt Doherty had a goal ruled out, too, for a foul on goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
In the end, Saints held on to a crucial point while depriving Spurs of two, which leaves the latter in sixth, five behind fourth-placed Arsenal but with two games in hand.
