´The table doesn´t lie´ – Kane laments lacklustre Spurs after late Liverpool loss

Harry Kane delivered a scathing assessment of Tottenham after a last-gasp defeat to Liverpool as the striker conceded his side deserve to be in the position they are in.

Spurs found themselves three goals down in the first 15 minutes at Anfield as Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah netted for Jurgen Klopp’s men on Sunday.

Just a week on from a 6-1 defeat at Newcastle United, in which they were 5-0 down after 21 minutes, Tottenham this time almost pulled off an unlikely comeback.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min set up a tantalising finish before Richarlison equalised in the 93rd minute, only for Diogo Jota to score a minute later to snatch a 4-3 win for Liverpool.

That saw the Reds leapfrog Spurs into fifth, and Kane acknowledged his team can have no complaints after another dire first-half showing.

“There’s only so many words you can use, the bottom line is you need to go out there and show it isn’t that case,” the England captain told Sky Sports.

“It’s on us to go away, find a reason why and see how it improves the situation. In these moments and these games, you can’t do what we did at the end. It’s a feeling of gut-wrenching defeat.

“The table doesn’t lie, where we are doesn’t lie. We’ve got some fantastic players and moments, but as a team we aren’t playing good enough collectively.

“We need to show we can go through games when it isn’t going our way. We deserve to be where we are.

“We have four games. This one is going to be hard to take, but we have a week until the next game, so we have to move on.”

Defeat at Anfield. pic.twitter.com/WyuCCHoQyM

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 30, 2023

An insipid first-half showing from Tottenham was almost atoned for when Richarlison headed in, although the celebrations were soon cut short as Lucas Moura inadvertently rolled in Jota to slot past Fraser Forster.

Spurs were aggrieved substitute Jota was still on the pitch at that point, though, with claims the Portugal forward should have been dismissed for a second-half aerial lunge on Oliver Skipp.

Jota was shown a yellow card for catching the head of Skipp with a flying boot, although interim Tottenham boss Ryan Mason believed the tackle deserved a red.

Mason told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Honestly, it’s probably the clearest red card you will see on the football pitch. I need an explanation.

“It endangered the opponent, Skipp needs stitches, and Jota has scored the goal when he shouldn’t be on the pitch.”