Troubled Spurs snatch late draw at Liverpool, Man Utd boost top-four bid

Liverpool – Tottenham Hotspur halted a sequence of five straight Premier League defeats and 12 without a victory – their worst run in 91 years – by claiming a dramatic 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Sunday, while Manchester United strengthened their push for Champions League qualification with a 3-1 defeat of Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

Interim Spurs boss Igor Tudor, still searching for his first win since replacing the sacked Thomas Frank, saw his relegation-haunted side fall behind in the 18th minute when Dominic Szoboszlai curled a free-kick beyond Guglielmo Vicario. The goal came after Vicario had already been beaten twice in similar fashion during the week’s 5-2 Champions League loss at Atlético Madrid, a result that prompted Tudor to hook goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after only 17 minutes in Spain.

This time the Croatian coach kept faith with Vicario, and the Italian’s long punt in the 90th minute sparked chaos inside the Liverpool box. Randal Kolo Muani flicked on, Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk hesitated, and Richarlison pounced to steer home his first league goal since early February and rescue a point that keeps Tottenham 16th, one point above both Nottingham Forest and West Ham with eight matches remaining.

A subdued Anfield crowd booed Jürgen Klopp’s side off the pitch; the hosts stay fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Villa and in danger of missing out on the continent’s premier club competition.

United, by contrast, moved three points clear of Villa after a second-half surge at Old Trafford. Casemiro nodded in a Bruno Fernandes corner eight minutes after the restart, Ross Barkley levelled against the run of play on 64 minutes, yet late strikes from Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko sealed a seventh win in nine for interim manager Michael Carrick.

Fernandes’ assist for Casemiro was his 16th of the Premier League campaign, eclipsing David Beckham’s club record of 15 set in 1999-2000, and took the Portuguese to 100 assists in all competitions since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in 2020.

Carrick, praised this week by co-owner Jim Ratcliffe for “excellent” work but still awaiting confirmation of a permanent appointment, said: “We looked a good team. It was a big game coming off the defeat. The boys reacted incredibly well.”

Villa, beaten in three consecutive league fixtures and with only one win in seven, remain fourth but are now only three points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest climbed out of the bottom three on goal difference after a 0-0 draw with Fulham under fourth manager of the season Vitor Pereira, while Leeds survived a missed Dominic Calvert-Lewin penalty and a red card for Gabriel Gudmundsson to hold Crystal Palace 0-0 at Selhurst Park.

Tottenham now prepare for a pivotal home date with Forest next weekend, a fixture that could decide which of the strugglers retains top-flight status.