Jurgen Klopp admitted he went too far with his celebration after Diogo Jota's dramatic late winner against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday as the Liverpool manager risked punishment for his criticism of referee Paul Tierney.
Leading 3-0 inside 15 minutes following goals from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz, and a Mohamed Salah penalty, Liverpool appeared to throw victory away when Tottenham mounted a remarkable comeback as Richarlison scored an equaliser in injury time following goals from Harry Kane and Son-Heung-min.
But less than one minute later, Jota latched on to a defensive mistake to slot beyond Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster to send Anfield into raptures.
A wild celebration from Klopp left the Liverpool manager limping after injuring himself and earned him a booking, with Tottenham caretaker manager Ryan Mason furious with the German's show of emotion in front of the visitors' bench.
Klopp's passion play came amid Liverpool's bid to salvage a disappointing season by qualifying for next season's Champions League.
The Reds still have a mountain to climb to reach the top four, as they sit seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who have a game in hand.
"We got away with it, thanks to Jota. It makes it spectacular and everybody goes home buzzing, but I am the manager so I have to mention everything else as well," Klopp said before criticising referee Paul Tierney.
Klopp has criticised Tierney in the past, saying he should have shown Spurs striker Kane a red card for a dangerous tackle in a meeting between the sides in 2021, and on Sunday the German manager said Liverpool have "history" with the referee.
"I really don't know what he has against us," Klopp told Sky Sports. "He has said there is no problems but that cannot be true.
"How he looks at me, I don't understand it ... My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair, but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK."
Liverpool v Tottenham player ratings
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LIVERPOOL PLAYER RATINGS: Alisson - 6. Made a good save to deny Kulusevski in the 41st minute. Ended the game with seven saves but the majority were routine. AFP -
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 7. Provided his fifth assist in six games with a precise whipped cross to the back-post for Jones to finish. His incisive passing was a potent weapon for the Reds. AFP -
Andrew Robertson - 5. Got caught in possession which allowed Kulusevski to run at goal and test Alisson from close range. Played Son onside for Spurs’ second. AFP -
Ibrahima Konate - 5. Dragged upfield too easily by Son and got caught out of position for Kane’s goal in the first half. Made an inch-perfect sliding tackle to stop Skipp in the 79th minute. Lucky to not have been penalised for a foul on Richarlison in the penalty area. EPA -
Virgil Van Dijk - 6. Did well to get back and make a goal-line clearance to deny Son in the 37th minute. Failed to repeat his heroic move two minutes later when Perisic dribbled past him to set up Kane’s goal. Getty -
Fabinho - 6. Worked hard in the middle of the pitch and was impressive in the first half. Fatigue seemed to set in as Spurs piled on the pressure late in the game. AFP -
Curtis Jones - 7. Grabbed the game’s opener with a first-time left-footed finish past Forster. Got back to make a good defensive clearance in the 78th minute. AP -
Harvey Elliott - 6. Failed to get the kind of connection he desired with his head when Robertson’s cross found him in the penalty area halfway into the first half. Looked lively on his first start since his return from injury. PA -
Mohamed Salah - 7. Scored Liverpool’s third with a simple effort straight into the middle from the penalty spot. Almost set up Jones with a cross to the back-post in the 72nd minute. AFP -
Luis Diaz - 7. Announced his return to the Reds’ starting line-up with a good finish from a tight angle to put Liverpool two goals up in the fifth minute. Caused problems on the left-hand side until he was substituted in the second half. AP -
Cody Gakpo - 8. Assisted Diaz’s goal with a simple pass back into the danger area. Fouled by Romero in the penalty area to give Salah the chance to score from the spot. PA -
SUBS: Jordan Henderson (Elliot 62') - 5. Brought on with the intention of helping to steady Liverpool’s midfield and regain control of proceedings. Henderson never stopped running but failed to make the desired impact. EPA -
Diogo Jota (Diaz 62') - 7. Had a chance to make an immediate impact but headed wide when he got on the end of Henderson’s cross. Sent the Liverpool fans into delirium with a left-footed finish into the bottom corner soon after Richarlison had drawn Spurs level. Getty -
Darwin Nunez (Gakpo 73') - N/A. Worked hard after coming on but didn't have a chance to trouble Forster. AFP -
James Milner (Jones 86') - N/A. Came on too late to make an impact. AFP -
TOTTENHAM PLAYER RATNGS: Fraser Forster - 5. Didn’t really have much to do apart from pick the ball out of the net four times in the game. AP -
Cristian Romero - 6. Carelessly lunged into a mistimed tackle on Gakpo to give away a penalty but helped make amends by assisting Son for Spurs’ second goal with a pass over Liverpool’s backline. AFP -
Eric Dier - 4. Made several errors and looked all over the place in the first half. He showed no desire to chase the ball and allowed Gakpo to get past him too easily in the build-up to the Reds’ second goal. AFP -
Ben Davies - 5. Displayed bravery to stop Alexander-Arnold’s effort with his head in the 68th minute. The referee came to his rescue after he went to the ground far too easily while tussling for the ball with Salah in the 90th minute. AFP -
Pedro Porro - 5. Tucked in to add bodies to the middle of defence and left Jones with too much space to put the Reds a goal up. Put Alisson to work with a swerving effort from long range in the 55th minute. AFP -
Ivan Perisic - 7. Displayed impressive footwork to leave Van Dijk on the ground and set up Kane’s goal with a dinked cross in the 39th minute. Made a back-post clearance to stop the ball from finding Elliot after the break. EPA -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 6. Stopped an Elliott run with a sliding tackle in the 58th minute. Crucial to Spurs retaining possession as they chased the game in the second half. AFP -
Oliver Skipp - 6. Made a good block to stop Gakpo’s effort from troubling Forster in the 17th minute. Never stopped running as Spurs chased the game. AFP -
Dejan Kulusevski - 6. Could have made it two for Spurs in the 41st minute after he robbed Robertson of possession but he failed to beat Alisson from close range. Set up Son’s effort which cannoned off the post in the 54th minute. AP -
Son Heung-Min - 8. Denied a certain goal by a Van Dijk goal-line clearance in the 37th minute. Hit the woodwork for the second time in the match when his curling effort from the edge of the penalty area. Timed a run to perfection and slotted past Alisson in the 77th minute. Whipped in a lovely cross for Richarlison to head home for Spurs late equaliser. AFP -
Harry Kane - 7. Gave Spurs a lifeline with a volleyed effort past Alisson in the 39th minute, his 208th Premier League goal. Found Romero in the penalty area with a beautiful clipped cross in the 54th minute. AFP -
SUBS: Pape Matar Sarr (Kulusevski 66') - 6. Came on and pressed high up the pitch as Spurs looked for a second goal to set up a grandstand finish to the game. PA -
Richarlison (Skipp, 84) - 7. Would feel unlucky to not have been awarded a penalty after Konate seemed to drag him back in the penalty area. Scored what looked to be an equaliser with a glancing header that bounced past Alisson in the second minute of extra time. AFP -
Lucas Moura (Porro 90') - N/A. His poor backpass gave Jota the chance to put a dagger in the hearts of the travelling Tottenham fans who thought their team had clinched a draw from a hopeless situation. AFP -
Arnaut Danjuma (Perisic 90') - N/A. Came on too late to make an impact. EPA
While Tottenham's top four hopes are in tatters, Liverpool are unbeaten in their last six games and have won four in a row to climb to fifth place.
Sixth-placed Tottenham are without a win in four games and sit nine points adrift of the top four with four matches left.
Mason is Tottenham's third manager of a turbulent season which featured Antonio Conte leaving by mutual consent before his replacement Cristian Stellini was sacked after last weekend's 6-1 thrashing at Newcastle.
"Devastated. We were the better team by an absolute country mile," said Mason, who claimed Jota should have been sent off for fouling Oliver Skipp.
"I have to be careful what I say but ultimately that's an impossible one to miss."
It took Liverpool just three minutes to breach the porous Tottenham defence as Trent Alexander-Arnold curled a superb cross to the far post, where Jones guided a cool finish past Fraser Forster for his first goal since 2021.
Tottenham had conceded five times in the first 21 minutes against Newcastle and they were in disarray again.
With Tottenham's hapless defence unable to pick up Liverpool's runners, Colombia winger Diaz doubled the lead in the fifth minute.
Salah's pass sent Cody Gakpo racing into the area and he pulled a cross back from the byline for Diaz to volley home from close-range.
In the 14th minute, Cristian Romero's reckless challenge sent Gakpo sprawling, conceding a penalty that Salah fired into the roof of the net.
Kane hadn't thrown in the towel and he netted in the 40th minute, volleying home from close-range after Ivan Perisic evaded Virgil van Dijk's lunge to pick out the England captain. It was Kane's 208th Premier League goal, moving hm level with Wayne Rooney as the competition's joint second highest all-time scorer behind Alan Shearer.
That finally sparked a spell of Tottenham pressure and Son hit the post twice before Romero's volley also cannoned off the woodwork.
With Liverpool having lost all momentum in the second half, Son tucked a cool finish under Alisson Becker from Romero's pass in the 77th minute.
When Richarlison headed his first league goal for Tottenham from Son's free-kick in the second minute of stoppage-time, it seemed the visitors had authored a great escape.
But seconds later Jota pounced with a nerveless finish from an acute angle to send Klopp into a frenzy on the touchline.
