A grueling eight minutes of injury time saw Joel Matip’s own goal delight north London.
Jurgen Klopp let off steam in subsequent press conferences and called for a replay of the match after Luis Diaz’s opening goal of the first half was wrongly ruled out.
Amid the drama, Spurs summer signing Alejo Veliz made his first appearances for the club.
An injury-time appearance was never going to send the world into a frenzy, but gave fans a glimpse of their £13 million man.
While silky South American strikers such as Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez have dazzled the Premier League with grace and guile, Veliz is cut from a completely different cloth.
His former coach at Rosario Central, Adrian Dezotti, gave insight into the 20-year-old’s qualities.
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“Alejo is very intelligent, but also very cunning and mischievous,” she told The Athletic.
“He’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve, a lot of street smarts. He is a strategist, a quick thinker.
I remember a match, a very difficult away match against Lanus, the year we finished third in the league.
“We were winning 2-1 when one of their attackers managed to break through on his own.
He ran from midfield, leaving our defenders behind, and looked certain to score.
But then Alejo blew the whistle and pretended it was the referee who stopped the match.
The attacker stopped and one of our central defenders stole the ball.
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“Their coach lost the ball and complained to the referee. They missed the goal and in the end we won 3-2. This showed his funny and mischievous side of him and how much attention he paid to the match.
“He didn’t come close to the match, but he did something that helped us win a difficult match. It was bold. Coach Lanus wanted to kill him.
Veliz could offer Ange Postecoglou an ideal plan B in the Premier League. Plan A has worked well so far: Tottenham defy all criticism and take the lead in the championship.
But should they need a change in their approach, where better to look than an optimistic.
Argentine target player? In an era where power forwards are a dying art, players like Diego Costa and Aleksandar Mitrovic have gained exceptional reputations in recent years.
Loved by their own fans, hated by others. And that’s exactly what Veliz could become at Tottenham.
Pre doesn’t deny offering a different approach to his fellow Spurs attackers.
The Argentina under-20 international won 58% of his aerial matches last season. In contrast, Richarlison (38%), Brennan Johnson (33.3%) and Heung-min Son (24.3%), while good, were not as adept in the air.
His former coach went further, suggesting Veliz can’t be matched by anyone else in the division.
Dezotti added: “I watch a lot of English football and there is no other player in the Premier League who has the same aerial game as Alejo. It’s incredible.
“You will see (how good Veliz is). He jumps well and has a powerful header. That aerial game caught my attention – it was terrifying.”
