Jurgen Klopp hits out at referee after Liverpool's 'spectacular' win over Tottenham

Reds win 4-3 after Diogo Jota's injury-time goal, having thrown away a three-goal lead at Anfield

Jurgen Klopp confronts the match officials after Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. EPA

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

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.