LEEDS, England: Leeds United’s Ao Tanaka scored deep into stoppage time to earn his side a thrilling 3-3 draw with Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday, rifling home from a corner at the back post to salvage a valuable point after a frenetic fight-back.
It was another disappointing day for the reigning champions, who should have coasted to victory but for the defensive frailties that exposed them late on.
In the first half, Curtis Jones curled a brilliant shot that smacked off the crossbar and captain Virgil Van Dijk flashed a header over the bar in the 27th minute but, other than that, Liverpool were sluggish.
That was quickly forgotten shortly after half-time as Joe Rodon’s ill-judged pass was snapped up by Hugo Ekitike to score.
He added a second just over two minutes later when Leeds again lost the ball and Conor Bradley crossed for the 23-year-old to fire home again.
However, a penalty from Dominic Calvert-Lewin after a foul by Ibrahima Konate and a brilliantly worked goal from Anton Stach got Leeds back level in a three-minute spell, igniting the home crowd again. Dominik Szoboszlai looked to have sealed it for Liverpool with a coolly taken goal in the 80th minute, but they were pinned back late on, conceding a series of corners as Leeds pressed.
The equalizer came from a set piece as substitute Tanaka lurked at the far post, the ball dropping for him to rifle into the net six minutes into stoppage time to secure a much-needed point in their battle to avoid relegation.
The draw leaves Liverpool eighth in the table on 23 points, while Leeds move up to 16th spot with 15 points from their 15 games so far.