Robbie Fowler criticised Tottenham Hotspur midfielders Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur after their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, accusing the duo of 'standing around' for Cody Gakpo's second-half goal in the Carabao Cup third-round tie at Anfield.
Liverpool advance to fourth round
Liverpool secured their place in the fourth round of the competition thanks to goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai. Conor Gallagher pulled one back for Spurs after Gakpo's 54th-minute strike, but Szoboszlai's stoppage-time goal, set up by a fine save from Giorgi Mamardashvili to deny Omar Marmoush, sealed the win.
The Reds will learn their next opponents after Manchester United's clash with Brighton on Wednesday night. The result keeps Liverpool unbeaten in all competitions this season, with one win and three draws in the Premier League under Andoni Iraola, following their Champions League victory at Atletico Madrid and a goalless draw at home to Fulham.
Fowler's analysis of the match
Speaking on ITV after the final whistle, Fowler praised the atmosphere and the team's response to a poor weekend performance. 'That's what this club is all about, the atmosphere tonight. 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.'
Replaying Gakpo's goal that made it 2-0, 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 see Bergvall and you see Bentancur just standing there. Just go across and make his job harder.'
Mac Allister and Szoboszlai praised
Fowler also commended Mac Allister for putting his contract dispute behind him, noting his superb finish to open the scoring. 'I agree with the club not giving him a new contract yet because you've got to earn that right. 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 91st-minute strike, Fowler said: '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.'
Next fixtures
Liverpool travel to Bournemouth in the Premier League this weekend, while Tottenham, managed by Roberto De Zerbi, host Aston Villa in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, seeking a morale-boosting victory.
