Man City denied victory by battling Spurs

Man City were held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham at the City of Manchester Stadium in a thrilling Premier League encounter.

An impressive City were in superb form from the outset but a stiff Spurs rearguard kept the scores level until half-time.

Pep Guardiola’s side finally got the breakthrough with two goals in five minutes after the break through Leroy Sane and Kevin de Bruyne, only to see Spurs strike back almost immediately through Delle Alli.

A push from Kyle Walker on Raheem Sterling should have meant a penalty for City, but referee Andre Marriner incorrectly waved play on, for Spurs to break downfield and equalise through Son Heung-Min, a goal which secured a draw for the visitors.

In terms of the ramifications of the destination of the Premier League title, this game had huge significance. Spurs close the gap to leaders Chelsea to six points in second place, while City lie back in fifth, nine behind the league leaders from London.

City were the better of the armies in the early warfare with Pablo Zabaleta played in on goal only to have the ball nicked from his toes by Toby Alderweireld, and Sergio Aguero also going close from distance.

David Silva was next to have a pop as he drove an effort at the bottom-right corner from the top of the box, with only a superb diving save from Hugo Lloris denying the Spaniard.

It was all City as they poured forward in search of the opener, and they should have been ahead when a cross was swung into the box for Sane to connect with, only for the German got his angles wrong as he directed the ball harmlessly left and wide.

Aguero was at the fulcrum of all that was good about the Manchester side; a superb turn of pace saw him force Lloris to palm away at the left post with a fierce low drive.

But for all City’s swagger, swerve and flow, they couldn’t find a way through the Spurs wall at the back as the teams went to the break to regroup before the second 45.

To say City deserved a goal would be a gross understatement and it came on 49 minutes. A magnificent ball over the top from De Bruyne split the Spurs defence and left Sane one on one with Lloris as the ball dropped on the edge of the area. Lloris could and probably should have attempted to claim in his arms, but instead attempted to head clear, but succeeded only in heading into the chest of Sane to control and stroke home for the opener.

With the deadlock broken, City doubled their advantage within five minutes, and it came from a second goalkeeping clanger from Lloris. Sterling burst down the right, swinging a cross into the box, where Lloris got down to claim well, only to allow the ball to spin out of his hands for the waiting De Bruyne to tap in for the simplest of goals.

Going 2-0 down forced Spurs to finally up their tempo and push forward and it reaped immediate dividends. The ball was played wide right to Walker to spin a scintialling ball into the six-yard area to find an onrushing Alli to hammer a bullet header past Claudio Bravo and reduce the game to a one-goal tie once more.

With that goal pulled back it was largely back to business as usual with City maruading at every opportunity and De Bruyne the key attacker as he continued to use the right flank as his canvas, with low balls into the box as attempted assists only for the Spurs defence to stand up well to all that was asked of them.

However, Sterling should have added a third when he was put in on goal one on one with Lloris, only to direct his effort from point-blank range straight into the hands of the keeper. The reason for such a poor finish? A clear push in the back of Sterling from Walker as he unleashed his shot. It was a clear red card and penalty and Guardiola was incenced on the touchline as he ranted and raved at the fourth official.

Guardiola went from furious to livid as Spurs went down the other end with Christian Eriksen playing a low ball into the box for Harry Kane to backheel into the path of Son to curl home to the bottom-left corner and level the game.

It was a game that had it all and had more yet to come. Guardiola threw 19-year-old Brazilian Gabriel Jesus into the fray for Sterling, with the young attacker making his debut for the Mancunians. And he almost had an immediate impact as he got on the end of a low ball across the face of goal from right to left from De Bruyne to turn home, only to have edged half a yard offside and for the goal to be ruled out.

City continued to push with De Bruyne named man of the match and continually the danger man, but the third goal wouldn’t come and Guardiola’s men had to settle for a point in a game they almost totally dominated from start to finish.

By Nick Royle

Photo: Getty/Alex Livesey

eir Sport channels are available across the eir Vision, Sky and Vodafone TV platforms as well as on the eir Sport app. All 6 channels in the eir Sport pack are available for free if you are a residential eir broadband customer.