Match Report: Man City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Man City kept themselves alive in the title race with a backs-to-the-wall 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday, thanks to a solitary goal from Phil Foden in the 5th minute of the game.
Both Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino made quite a lot of changes to their line-ups from the Champions League second leg fixture on Wednesday night and the Citizens managed to have the final say in this one after their hopes of winning a quadruple came to an end.
Much like the mid-week game, City had the best possible start to this one as well. Bernardo Silva swung in a perfect cross from the right for Sergio Aguero to head it into the path of Phil Foden, who showed good movement and awareness inside the box to bag his first ever Premier League goal.
Buoyed by the early goal, the Citizens lifted the home crowd with some really audacious pressing, though Spurs had multiple chances soon after to draw level. Son Heung-min’s effort from the left was kept out by Ederson before Christian Eriksen ran clear through on goal, only to be denied once again by the goalkeeper’s heroics.
Eriksen then showed a wonderful piece of vision to split the City midfield and set up Son with a delightful through ball but it was Ederson who came to City’s rescue for the third time in the half. Man City dominated the possession but the injury to Kevin de Bruyne forced Guardiola to throw Fernandinho into action a bit sooner than he would have liked.
Trailing by just a single goal at the interval, Spurs had every reason to believe that they could still fight back and spoil City’s title ambitions. However, City were well aware of Tottenham’s attacking threat and they kept things relatively simple in the second half, retaining possession and moving the ball around to take the opposition out of the game.
City looked a lot more compact at the back in the second half, barring a single instance when Lucas Moura got himself between John Stones and Aymeric Laporte. Ederson, however, was equal to the task and managed to protect City’s lead with another brave piece of goalkeeping.
Pochettino’s plan of playing a back-five system backfired as Spurs weren’t able to press City enough in the midfield to win possession back and hit them on the break. Paulo Gazzaniga, who was making his first start in the Premier League since September, pulled off an unreal save to deny Raheem Sterling’s close-range effort.
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Spurs went all out in search of a late equaliser but City were never going to let them in, with the title race poised ever so delicately.
While the 1-0 result ensured that City maintained a one-point gap over Liverpool in the title race, it leaves Spurs in a vulnerable position in the top four, with Arsenal and Chelsea expected to win their fixtures against Crystal Palace and Burnley respectively on Sunday.
Twitter Reactions from Man City Fans
One of our own!
One of our owwnn!
Oh Phil Foden,
He’s one of our own! 💙#MCITOT #ManCity pic.twitter.com/8tuTPd10Jt
— Superbia Proelia (@SuperbiaProeIia) April 20, 2019
So far, SOLID as a rock!#MCITOT #ManCity pic.twitter.com/KOl6HDP8E1
— Superbia Proelia (@SuperbiaProeIia) April 20, 2019
What a game from young Phil!#MCITOT #ManCity pic.twitter.com/wBbWy2QNUH
— Superbia Proelia (@SuperbiaProeIia) April 20, 2019
Bernardo Silva vs Spurs:
74 Touches
3 Shots
1 Shot on target
88% (35) Passes completed
3 Key passes
5 (3) Dribbles (succ.)
7 (5) Tackles won
3 Interceptions
2 Clearances
All round performance, once again! #MCITOT #ManCity pic.twitter.com/F2jmjwSaNh
— Superbia Proelia (@SuperbiaProeIia) April 20, 2019
If City don’t win the title, then Riyad Mahrez’s Anfield penalty miss is going to be up there with THE SLIP. #MCITOT pic.twitter.com/0aAtTVWdo0
— The Irish Guy (@HITC_SPORT) April 20, 2019
Job well-done pep
3 points
Clean shit
Topping the group#MCITOT pic.twitter.com/DdkUkkclMQ
— QUAN 🇿🇦 (@QUANworldwide) April 20, 2019
Phil Foden has the same number of goals from open play against the top six this season as Mohamed Salah (1)…#MCITOT pic.twitter.com/ihEWZoSj9c— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) April 20, 2019
