Manchester City lose Golden Chance to Catch up to Arsenal

Football365

Going into the game this past Sunday, Everton shocked the entire league when they handed Arsenal their second loss of the season on Saturday. This huge result kept the difference between Manchester City and Arsenal at five points, with City having the chance to cut it down even further if they beat Tottenham.

Before the game, the lineups were virtually identical to when these two teams faced each other a little over two weeks ago. However, this time, the game was being played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Manchester City have not beaten Tottenham since their new stadium opened in 2019. Their last five trips to this stadium have ended in a loss for the Citizens, with this one being the most shocking.

Micah Crook/TheMirror

In the early parts of the game, City had their possession game going and broke Tottenham’s defensive lines a few times to get some good chances. However, Tottenham stayed disciplined with their shape and high press to keep the game scoreless early.

In the 15th minute, Rodri’s pass to Rico Lewis was anticipated by Hojbjerg just outside of the Manchester City box. Hojbjerg filtered the steal to Harry Kane, who fired it across Ederson, giving Tottenham the 1-0 lead. A record-breaking goal that officially made Harry Kane the club’s all-time leading goal scorer. Bringing his total to 267 goals, surpassing the record Tottenham legend Jimmy Greaves held since the 1969-70 season.

Bill Edgar/TheTimes

Last time, the Spurs had a two-goal lead going into the second half but let it slip away and ended up losing 4-2 at the Etihad. This time, Tottenham did a good job of making it difficult for Manchester City to get the ball into Haaland. City’s big-money signing never got himself into the game. If he wasn’t getting a cross served into him from either Grealish or Mahrez, he barely made contact with the ball.

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Riyad Mahrez had the closest chance to get his team back into the game towards the end of the first half when he blasted his shot off the crossbar. Later in the game, Julian Alvarez kept shooting at Hugo Lloris but never actually forced Lloris to make a difficult save. Tottenham even seemed to provide City a lifeline when Cristián Romero was given his second yellow card of the match and was sent off in the 87th minute. However, it was too little too late for City, who couldn’t take advantage of being a man up with such little time left.

Arsenal still finds themselves at the top of the league with 50 points and a game in hand over the other top-four teams. This win was extremely significant for the Spurs because now they are only one point behind fourth-place Newcastle but have played one more game than Newcastle.

Tottenham might not be challenging for the title, but finishing in the top four would be huge for them to keep their squad together in the future. Guaranteeing Champions League football next season would keep the faith in their project and keep a player like Kane leading their team and away from bigger clubs that continue to pursue his signature.