Tottenham Hotspur put one toe into the semi finals of the Champions League on Tuesday night as they secured a narrow 1-0 advantage to take to the Etihad.
Spurs survived an early penalty to finish the game with a clean sheet and a one goal lead against Premier League title holders Man City.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
The new stadium is rocking –
The new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was designed for atmosphere, and it does not disappoint. 62,000 plus fans, a white wall of 17,500 supporters in the South Stand, fans a matter of metres from the pitch. The move to the new ground has been just the boost Spurs so desperately needed, and it will only get better in the long term.
Man City can be stopped –
As a side aiming to complete the quadruple this season, many talk about City as an unbeatable force, but Tottenham played them off the park on Tuesday, and Pochettino out-thought Pep with his expert tactics. With a pre-planned pressing pattern from Kane, Alli, Son, and Eriksen, they cut off all avenues of passing from the back for City, forcing mistake after mistake.
City like a foul –
Many people also overlook the fact that Man City love a tactical cynical foul. On the ball, they are class and flashy, but off the ball, they like to disrupt the other team’s rhythm by chopping them down, climbing on their backs, and generally fouling, somehow without picking up yellows.
Son can lead the line –
Yet again, Sonny stepped up in the absence of Harry Kane, and many Spurs fans will be backing him to do so for the rest of the season. The South Korean loves the responsibility of being the main man up top, and has been scoring the goals to prove it.
Lloris sure can save a pen-
Lloris may have been jittery of late, but the man sure can save a spot kick. His vital save early on against Sergio Aguero made it three pen stops from the last three for Hugo. He has saved kicks against Aguero, Aubameyang, and Vardy in 2019 alone.
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