23 November 2024
Man City 0 Tottenham 4
Man City laid on an elaborate, glitzy show for Rodri before the game to celebrate his winning this year’s Ballon D’Or. It was the kind of event that would put the Olympics and Oscars to shame, the sort of thing you would expect to see for the second coming of Jesus but that is not likely to happen, they still cannot believe how much they got Arsenal to pay for him.
Tottenham were the visitors to the Etihad Stadium, facing a Man City side that had lost their last four games. In the past nobody blinked an eyelid at a run of bad form for the champions as you knew they would come back harder and more determined, it is the Pep Guardiola way. With the manager having just signed a two-year extension, getting back to winning ways seemed the next step.
City started the game in positive mood, piling the pressure on the visitors. Spurs were missing their two first-choice centre backs and this was already seeming like it would be a tough trip to Manchester. The ball was worked to Haaland at the back post in acres of space but the Norwegian took far too many touches and it allowed the defender to block his effort, at the expense of a corner.
Savinho then got away from Dragusin and picked out Haaland unmarked in the box once again. He fired in a first-time shot but Vicario reacted well to save with his feet. Man City could and probably should have been two-nil up by this stage but the usually prolific striker had spurned both opportunities. At this stage it just seemed a matter of time before Guardiola’s side broke the deadlock.
The visitors then came forward for the first time in the match. Kulusevski teased Gvardiol out wide before playing a pinpoint cross into the box to pick out the run of Maddison. The birthday boy volleyed home to give Spurs an unlikely lead and silence the home fans. Everyone watching this game was left stunned as it came from nowhere.
Postecoglou’s side grew in confidence after opening the scoring. Man City were starting to look so sketchy their performance could have been an a-ha video. Son received the ball out wide on the left, dropped his shoulder and cut inside onto his stronger foot. He looked to bend one in the top corner but Ederson made a fingertip save at full-stretch to send it behind for a corner.
A misplaced pass from Gvardiol gifted the ball to Maddison. He played it into Son in the box, who neatly flicked it back into his path as he made a run off him. The former Leicester midfielder then lifted the ball over the advancing Ederson to double the visitors’ lead. This was turning into a nightmare for Pep Guardiola as his side were staring down the barrel of a fifth consecutive defeat.
The Man City defender tried to make amends as he got forward and picked out Haaland in the box with a cross. The Norwegian striker blasted his effort over the crossbar and punched the turf in frustration. The amount of space Tottenham were giving him in the box was crazy, but not as much as the fact that he had yet to find the back of the net.
You can only imagine the roasting that Guardiola gave his side during the half-time interval. As the game restarted, it took all of seven minutes before Spurs were on the attack again. Solanke picked the ball up on the byline and cut it back to the advancing Porro. He swept his shot past Ederson to put the travelling fans in dreamland. Meanwhile Guardiola was hoping he could wake up from this feverish nightmare.
Bissouma then got into the Christmas spirit as he provided a gift to Haaland in the box. The striker checked onto his left foot and looked to bend his shot into the far corner. It clipped the top of the crossbar as it went over. A big let-off for the visitors, the Man City striker could have scored a hat-trick on another day. Things were just not going the way of the defending champions.
As the rain poured down at The Etihad, it seemed a fitting metaphor for what was unfolding on the pitch. Gvardiol had a chance to reduce the deficit but his shot was well blocked. Spurs went straight up the other end and Kulusevski turned Ake inside out before getting a shot away, which Ederson did well to claw away from his goal.
Guardiola brought De Bruyne on, hoping to change the game. He played a neat pass in behind the defence to Haaland, but his shot from a tight angle was well saved by Vicario. The game then spilled over as the Belgian put in a heavy challenge on Sarr as he cleared his lines. It was obvious to see that Spurs had got under the skin of Man City with this humbling in their own backyard.
Deep into added time a wayward pass from Grealish gifted the ball to Werner. He broke down the left wing and played a teasing ball into the back post for Johnson to slide in and add the icing to the top of the cake. A run of fifty-two games unbeaten at home had come to an end in dramatic fashion with a real hiding in front of their own fans.
Many people will point at Rodri’s injury as rationale for this dip in form but the problems are far bigger than this. Man City look disjointed all over the pitch and were opened up with regularity by the visitors. Tottenham were simply brilliant and the scoreline did not flatter them at all. What remains to be seen is whether we are seeing a changing of the guard in the Premier League.
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