'Close to crisis' - National media give verdict on Liverpool's victory at Tottenham Hotspur

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The hosts were reduced to 10 men after around half an hour when Xavi Simons was dismissed for a rake down Virgil van Dijk's Achilles before Spurs were then sent to nine after Cristian Romero kicked out at Ibrahima Konate when already on a booking.That was after Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike had given the visitors a two-goal cushion but a strike from Richarlison set up a tense finish to the game as Arne Slot's men held on against the battling nine of Thomas Frank's team.The ECHO, as ever, was at the game to run the rule over proceedings. Of the latter, there were eight yellows, two of which were shown to Cristian Romero, and one straight red for Xavi Simons at 0-0 that will inspire major frustrations within Thomas Frank."The Telegraph's Sam Wallace writes: "By the end, Arne Slot’s players were hanging on for a win against a dysfunctional nine-man Tottenham Hotspur team with one of the worst home records in the club’s history – so not all of this felt like a great triumph for the defending Premier League champions."Liverpool are back up to fifth place and with the first three-game winning streak since their season went into nosedive at the end of September.

There is, for Liverpool, the added concern of an injury to Isak whose brief eight minutes on the pitch after coming on at half-time encompassed much action."Isak was kicked once by Rodrigo Bentancur before dispatching the first goal of the game just moments before Micky van de Ven’s tackle trapped the striker’s left leg. Simons was closing down Van Dijk when he trod on the Liverpool captain's calf.

It took less than six seconds for Liverpool’s £300m trio to rip through Tottenham’s 10 men after Cristian Romero’s careless pass from defence. On as a half-time substitute, he limped off 10 minutes later with an ankle injury that could sideline him for the foreseeable future."And the ECHO's verdict reads: "For 83 minutes, anyone searching for proof that Liverpool had finally turned the corner on their season will have gathered plenty of evidence here at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium."With Arne Slot's side in full control at 2-0, cruising to a sixth game unbeaten - and a third successive clean sheet - against the 10 men of Spurs, everything was pointing towards a largely stress-free day at the office."A sloppy concession changed all of that, however, and despite offering very little in the final third prior to Richarlison's 83rd-minute effort, it was the hosts who suddenly looked the most likely to score again, even when they were given their second red card of the game for Cristian Romero."Quite why Liverpool struggle to see out two-goal advantages only Slot and his players will know but the dying embers here looked for all the world like it was about to happen for a fifth time this term across all competitions.