Robbie Fowler took aim at Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur after Tottenham’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, accusing the two midfielders of ‘standing around’ for Cody Gapko’s second-half goal.
Liverpool secured passage to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup as Alexis Mac Allister, Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai struck in a compelling contest at Anfield.
Conor Gallagher reduced the deficit to give Spurs a glimmer of hope after Gakpo’s 54th-minute effort, but Szoboszlai’s stoppage-time wondergoal – after a fine save from Giorgi Mamardashvili to deny Omar Marmoush – put the tie to bed.
The Reds will discover their opponents for the next round of this year’s competition following the conclusion of Manchester United’s clash with Brighton on Wednesday night.
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The result means Liverpool remain undefeated in all competitions this season, with Andoni Iraola’s men winning one and drawing three in the Premier League.
The Merseyside giants also opened their Champions League campaign with victory at Atletico Madrid before their goalless draw at home to Fulham at the weekend.
‘That’s what this club is all about, the atmosphere tonight,’ ex-Liverpool and England striker Fowler said on ITV shortly after the final whistle.
‘It was quite a poor performance at the weekend and you need to give the fans something to get behind you.
‘They were very, very good tonight. Okay, it wasn’t vintage Liverpool but they’ve done enough, they’ve played the right way.
‘They controlled parts of the game, they lost a little bit when the two young lads went off but they were good value for the win tonight.’
(Picture: James Holyoak/Every Second Media)
Watching back Gakpo’s goal which made it 2-0 on the night, Fowler added: ‘There are too many Tottenham players standing around.
‘You know when Gakpo has the ball that he’s going to cut inside but you seeBergvall and you see Bentancur just standing there.
‘Just go across and make his job harder.’
Fowler was pleased to see Alexis Mac Allister put the dispute over his contract situation in the past, with the Argentine finishing superbly to get Liverpool up and running in the contest.
‘I agree with the club not giving him a new contract yet because you’ve got to earn that right,’ Fowler said.
‘But his performances have been very good since he’s come out and had the argument. I think he’s controlled parts of the game.
‘He gets a little bit of luck with the ball falling to him for the goal but what a finish, he puts it into the top corner away from the goalkeeper.’
On Szoboszlai’s thunderous 91st-minute strike, Fowler continued: ‘Sometimes you put your foot through the ball, you drive through, but that’s a controlled drive.
‘He knows exactly what he’s doing, he drives it and it’s going away from the goalkeeper.’
Liverpool return to action in the Premier League away to struggling Bournemouth this weekend.
Roberto De Zerbi’s out-of-sorts Spurs, meanwhile, will be in search of a morale-boosting victory when they play host to Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.