Lucas Bergvall scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur to give his side a 1-0 win over defending champions Liverpool in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old Swede shot a great finish past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson in the 86th minute, rewarding the injury-plagued hosts who had recently ruled out a goal from Dominic Solanke.

Liverpool, who beat Chelsea for the tenth time last season to win the competition, were far from their best and could hardly complain as their 24-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end – despite many Liverpool players and staff Bergvall thought he should have been sent off for a second yellow card shortly before his decisive goal.

Arne Slot’s side suffered only their second defeat of the season but remain confident of salvaging a tie in the second leg at Anfield next month.

Newcastle United beat Arsenal 2-0 away in the first leg of the other semi-final on Tuesday.

Harry Murphy – Danehouse/Getty Images

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Tottenham had picked up just three wins in their last 14 games in all competitions, with Ange Postecoglou’s side decimated by injuries and when midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was taken off on a stretcher after a worrying fall early on, the omens looked bad for them hosts, who gave their debut to the new goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

Liverpool won 6-3 at Tottenham in the Premier League before Christmas but looked lethargic for much of Wednesday, despite finishing strongly in both halves.

It was sweet revenge for Tottenham, for whom Bergvall showed why he is so highly valued.

Postecoglou claimed earlier this season that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club, but recent results have increased the pressure on the Australian.

However, the fans ended up chanting his name as their first trophy since the 2008 League Cup got a little closer.

Tottenham had the better chances in the first half, with Radu Dragusin parrying an early shot from Alisson and Solanke missing a cross from Son Heung-Min either side of the long break due to Bentancur’s injury.

Mohamed Salah, uncharacteristically calm, fired a shot wide for Liverpool, while Kinsky felt a moment of alarm when a shot from Cody Gakpo almost went under his body.

Just after half-time, Alisson almost gave Tottenham the lead when he dawdled for the ball and was dispossessed by Bergvall, who pushed the ball back to Pedro Porro, whose first shot was blocked by Virgil van Dijk, while his next attempt failed to pass the gaping goal , much to the frustration of Postecoglou, who fell to his knees in the technical area.

Liverpool almost took the lead when substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold had Dragusin’s shot cleared off the line.

However, Tottenham went too far and Solanke failed due to a VAR offside decision, which Stuart Attwell was the first referee to announce directly to the audience.

However, the hosts could not be fended off and Bergvall sent the home fans into a storm of enthusiasm after great preparatory work from Solanke.