By ,
Published May 02, 2016
Liverpool, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Mario Balotelli picked a fine time to open his Premier League scoring account with Liverpool, notching the winner seven minutes from time in the club's 3-2 defeat of Tottenham at Anfield on Tuesday.
Liverpool twice took the lead in the affair only to see Spurs draw level, but Balotelli tucked home a low cross from Adam Lallana in the 83rd minute to secure all three points for the hosts.
The result sees Liverpool climb to 42 points to move to within one point of sixth-place Tottenham as both clubs continue their pursuit of Champions League football for next season.
With comfortable wins in its last three outings against Tottenham, Liverpool appeared to be in good stead once again after Lazar Markovic capped a quick counter with a left-footed strike past Hugo Lloris in the 15th minute. The Spurs goalkeeper managed to get a hand to the shot but was unable to keep it out of the net.
Tottenham answered 11 minutes later with Harry Kane doing the honors. The in- form Spurs striker capitalized on a slip from Mamadou Sakho to get through on goal and slide a shot between the legs of Simon Mignolet for his 10th tally in as many games.
The Reds went back in front eight minutes into the second half when Danny Rose committed a foul in the box, resulting in a penalty kick that Steven Gerrard converted with ease.
Tottenham, however, climbed level once again as Mignolet parried away a free kick just after the hour mark but only as far as Kane, who centered the rebound for Moussa Dembele to steer home from close range.
Balotelli entered the contest in the 74th minute and put his stamp on the match 11 minutes later, clinching the victory for his first signature moment in a Liverpool shirt.
Arsenal advanced to fourth place in the Premier League table on Tuesday with a 2-1 defeat of lowly Leicester City at the Emirates.
Laurent Koscielny and Theo Walcott netted first-half goals to send the Gunners on their way, while Andrej Kramaric stuffed home a second-half consolation goal for the Foxes.
QPR climbed out of the relegation zone with an impressive 2-0 win at Sunderland.
Leroy Fer handed the visitors the lead in the 17th minute, but it was Bobby Zamora's strike just before halftime that gave Rangers the breathing room necessary to collect all three points.
And finally, Aston Villa's scoring woes continued as Hull City scored on either side of halftime in a 2-0 home victory at the KC Stadium.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/balotelli-saves-liverpool-against-tottenham