Despite a dominant second-half display, Tottenham Hotspur narrowly fell short at home to Man City, with Ange Postecoglou finally resting some key players.
Tottenham Hotspur’s three-game Premier League winning streak came to a frustrating end as they fell 1-0 to Man City at home. The 155th meeting between these two sides had its fair share of drama, but neither team fully capitalised on their chances.
Ange Postecoglou made three changes from the 4-1 win over Ipswich Town, with Djed Spence, Son Heung-min, and Dejan Kulusevski dropping to the bench; likely with an eye on next week’s Europa League clash.
James Maddison, Destiny Udogie, and Wilson Odobert started, making this the youngest Premier League team Postecoglou has ever fielded. Meanwhile, Timo Werner returned to the bench, adding to what was arguably Spurs’ strongest set of substitutes this season.
For Manchester City, Erling Haaland returned to the starting XI and would later go on to score the decisive goal.
First half: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Man City
Pep Guardiola threw a tactical curveball, deploying an extra deep-lying defender to push his fast-paced wingers wider and stretch Spurs’ defensive shape. It worked well, as Tottenham struggled to narrow the gaps.
Despite a bright early connection between Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert, Spurs lacked an end product in the final third.
Haaland tested Guglielmo Vicario early on, though his tame effort was denied. After robbing Spurs of possession high up the field multiple times, it finally paid off and City struck 12 minutes in.
Jeremy Doku, who troubled Pedro Porro all half, dribbled his way down the left and squared the ball for Haaland in the six-yard box. The Norwegian tapped it past Vicario to put City ahead. Spurs had switched off, and you never leave Haaland with that much space in the box.
Doku remained a nightmare for Porro, completing the most dribbles in the match (4), most of them before half-time. The Belgian nearly turned provider again before the half-hour mark, as Savinho found himself free in the box, only to fire his shot over the bar.
Spurs, on the other hand, struggled to get anything going. Whenever they progressed forward, they either lost possession high up the pitch or misplaced the final ball. Kevin Danso had Tottenham’s only real effort, directing a header towards the goal from a free-kick, but Ederson tipped it over.
By the break, Spurs had recorded just 0.09 xG; their third lowest under Postecoglou compared to City’s 1.91. The visitors should have been at least 3-0 up, having squandered three of their four big chances, whereas Spurs failed to create a single one.
Second half: Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Man City
If the first half was all City, the second was the complete opposite. Spurs dominated, creating chance after chance but, they just couldn’t put the ball in the net.
Porro, who had been troubled by Doku throughout the first 45, adapted well, keeping a safer distance and cutting off the winger’s options. With City sitting deeper, Tottenham pushed forward, and within ten minutes, they had their first big chance. Porro drilled a low ball into the centre, but neither Mathys Tel nor Odobert put in the right foot.
Tel had another opportunity shortly after; Udogie recovered the ball in a dangerous position, but Matheus Nunes intercepted his attempted pass.
At the hour mark, Postecoglou made a quadruple substitution. The changes immediately lifted Spurs. Spence linked up brilliantly with Maddison, nearly setting up Son, but City managed to clear for a corner.
Kulusevski then had a golden opportunity but took a loose touch, allowing Ederson to come forward at it comfortably. Spurs’ best chance, however, came when Brennan Johnson whipped a perfect cross into the centre. Son was in the ideal position but couldn’t find the right angle, and Ederson did brilliantly to deny him.
City thought they had doubled their lead in stoppage time when Haaland found the net again, but a lengthy VAR check ruled the goal out for handball. The Norwegian had seemingly brushed the ball with his lower bicep.
Guardiola’s men used the four minutes of stoppage time to waste as much time as possible, making a double substitution and going down injured at every opportunity. Even so, Spurs nearly found a last-gasp equaliser, with Sarr inches away from converting, but his header was too strong.
The final whistle blew, and despite their dominant second-half display, Spurs walked away empty-handed.
Tottenham takeaways
Rodrigo Bentancur’s mixed night. Bentancur was Tottenham’s best midfielder at times, yet he also found himself caught out of position more than once. Given how often he was surrounded by City players, it was a tough task. He still managed to win the most duels (11) in the match, but fans will likely remain divided on his performance. When a player is constantly asked to track back, a bit of fatigue is inevitable.
Squad depth at last! Not long ago, Postecoglou was struggling to make four substitutions across multiple matches. Now, he can do so in one go. Once Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven return, the future will look even brighter.
Players rested for upcoming Europa League clash. After three consecutive weekend fixtures, Spurs returned to playing midweek. With just four days between the Ipswich match and this one, Ange Postecoglou opted to rest his big guns. This also provided an opportunity for players like Wilson Odobert, who haven’t featured much, to start and he did look promising a few times.
What’s next for Spurs?
Had Spurs taken their chances, this could have been a very different result—but that’s football.
The loss sees them drop to 13th in the Premier League table, with Crystal Palace overtaking them by three points. The bottom half of the table is where they’ll be stuck for at least the next few weeks.
Next up is AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday. With Spurs’ hopes of silverware resting on this competition, Postecoglou’s men must train better to finish off their chances in front of the goal.