Jose Mourinho: Liverpool were looking to get Tottenham Hotspur star Giovani Lo Celso sent off
According to The Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has cried foul over Liverpool’s attempts to get star midfielder Giovani Lo Celso sent off.
The 24-year-old was in fine form and even got himself an assist after putting Son Heung-Min through with a sublime through ball. However, a yellow picked up in the 48th minute saw him walk a tightrope in the second half.
Mourinho believes he was forced to take off the Argentine in the 58th minute, thanks to efforts from Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool bench to get Lo Celso sent off.
“I was afraid of the yellow card and I had to take him off.”
Mourinho’s night would end on a sour note, with Roberto Firmino at hand to win it for the Merseysiders late on. The Brazilian was also our bane in the return fixture last season.
Tottenham started the second half strongly, thanks to the tactical changes made by Mourinho. The Portuguese tactician wanted Lo Celso to play a more pivotal role and the Argentine did just that for the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“The tactical changes were to try to give Gio Lo Celso more space coming from the right to start having a little bit more of the ball and find counter-attack situations.”
Purposeful targetting?
With Liverpool calling for a second yellow anytime, Lo Celso was involved in a challenge, Mourinho was forced to address the issue before the hour mark. On came Lucas Moura, who failed to have the same impact as the Argentine.
“With this yellow card and the behaviour of these guys they have on the touchline, putting incredible pressure on referees I feared for a possible second yellow card.”
With one of our best attacking outlets out of the game, the Reds were handed an advantage going into the final half-hour of the game. One they wholly exploited.
More Tottenham Hotspur News
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- Trent Alexander-Arnold taunts Jose Mourinho as Tottenham fall short at Anfield
- Jose Mourinho reveals his problem with Jurgen Klopp as he tells him Liverpool didn’t deserve to win
While Mourinho may or may not be right, it is time for us to leave the reversal at Anfield behind us. We have only ourselves to blame for not coming away with all three points. Steven Bergwijn and Harry Kane both missed gilt-edged chances that could have swung the game in our favour.
We are just three points behind Liverpool and still very much in the title race. With Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City up next, nothing less than three points will do.
