Tottenham 0-2 Manchester City: Spurs unable to do Arsenal favor as Gil attempt to comfort Bentancur
A match that decides the league. That was the title for Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur, the last home game of the season. Should Spurs win, Arsenal would likely win the Premier League title.
On the other hand, if City won at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they could control their own fate. Fans of Tottenham were naturally split about this game. They wanted their team to win three points because the Champions League was still up for grabs, but they also didn’t want their North London rivals to win the League title.
The next Spurs player to get hurt was Yves Bissouma, who was out for the rest of the season. This made some interesting changes to the starting group.
Ange Postecoglou made a bit of a surprise strategy change by putting Rodrigo Bentancur and Radu Dragusin in the starting lineup along with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. At first glance, this looked like a change for the same reason.
The first chance of the game came from Hojbjerg’s early switch. Brennan Johnson was wide on the right and was found by the Dane with a perfect pass. Johnson then cut back into Bentacur at the top of the box.
Ederson blocked his well-hit shot. At the other end, a Hojbjerg clearance that was headed off goal almost led to a City goal, but Guglielmo Vicario made a great save to stop it.
Tottenham had most of the ball by the end of the first half, but City still looked dangerous. Unfortunately, neither team was able to make clear-cut chances. Spurs often broke dangerously but couldn’t find the final pass, and City beat Spurs’ defence several times only to be called offside in the buildup.
At the start of the second half, things were pretty much the same as the first. Both teams had chances. Hojbjerg lost the ball in his own box, and Kevin de Bruyne made a great save from Vicario.
Son was then set up by Brennan Johnson, and the Spurs captain cut across the City box to meet the Welshman’s cross, but Ederson stopped him right away. Still, City scored the first goal right away. Patrick Roberts set up Kevin de Bruyne down the right side of the pitch, and the Belgian then squared the ball across the goal for Erling Haaland to tap in.
As soon as Postecoglou saw that Bentancur was out, he replaced him with Dejan Kulusevski. This marked a return to Spurs’ more familiar 4-3-3 form. Spurs kept looking dangerous, not just to City’s goal but also to Ederson.
Cristian Romero stretched to get a ball curled behind City’s defence. He hit the City custodian hard, got a yellow card for it, and the Brazilian had to be taken off as a safety measure in case he got a concussion.
Soon, both subs played important roles. Johnson set up Kulusevski, who got past the City defence and fired a shot. Stefan Ortega, the custodian for New City, did a good job of making himself big to stop an equaliser. Ederson, who was sitting on the bench, looked sad.
Spurs made more changes late in the game, which gave Giovani Lo Celso and Oliver Skipp some playing time. Spurs were still looking for a way to get back into the game, and Son missed a big chance that they could have taken. Manuel Akanji lost the ball when Brennan Johnson put pressure on him, and Son was through one-on-one in a spot where you’d normally expect him to score. Ortega, the substitute custodian, made a huge save instead, and City quickly got a second.
Phil Foden made a quick move that put Jeremy Doku in a free spot against Pedro Porro. The Spanish player was fooled by Doku’s quick feet, and he tripped Doku up inside the 18-yard box. The ref pointed to the penalty area, and Haaland scored the goal, giving City a two-goal lead.
Mikey Moore, who is 16 years old, made his Premier League start late in the game, which must have been very exciting for him. Unfortunately, Moore didn’t have many chances to play in the last few minutes as City easily won 2-0.
Reactions
In some ways, this result was the best of both worlds: Spurs played pretty well and made some interesting changes to their strategy, and Arsenal probably won’t be able to defend their Premier League title. Spurs’ loss also means they will no longer be able to play in the Champions League.
MIKEY MOORE ON HIS FIRST GAME IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE!
The way Postecoglou set things up at the beginning was very interesting. When Spurs didn’t have the ball, they were still in their 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, with Pape Matar Sarr playing as the striker. Things got weird when they were in possession, though. James Maddison and Sarr played almost like false nines, but they switched places with other midfielders who would also make runs forward. It was kind of like a flowing 4-2-2-2.
Overall, the strategy worked pretty well. Spurs had the upper hand for most of the first half, and City had a hard time keeping up with the Spurs speed. However, that last ball is still a problem.
The new-look backline mostly did a good job, but they did have some problems. There were times when both Dragusin and van de Ven drifted. The Romanian lost his mark, and Micky seemed to forget that he was playing left back, leaving the wing wide open.
At least we can stop talking about how we lost on purpose now.
Next up to finish the season is Sheffield United, who were relegated.
COYS!
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