Tottenham Hotspur slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday afternoon at Wembley, with it fair to say that Mauricio Pochettino’s side were far from their best.
Goals from Gio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino were enough to secure victory for the Reds and in truth the visiting side also squandered a number of excellent opportunities to ram home their advantage.
Tottenham fans will be left scratching their heads at consecutive defeats, with the loss to Liverpool compounding the debacle at Vicarage Road earlier this month.
If any positives are to be taken out of the game, it must be the performances of Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela.
The Brazil international has started the campaign in scintillating fashion and for the first hour looked like the only player able of making in-roads or troubling the Liverpool defence.
The South American’s attitude, work rate and determination also shone through in an excellent performance from the August Premier League Player of the Month.
Tottenham boss Pochettino also threw Lamela on in search of attacking inspiration and the Argentina international scored close to the end, mercurially volleying home from close range.
On top of his goal, the former River Plate man was full of running, looking dangerous in possession and injected the energy that has been missing for most of the performance.
Lamela’s showings from the bench this season have been impressive and the versatile forward should be in the running to start for Tottenham against Inter Milan in midweek.