Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City: The champions thrive

While it may not have been the goalfest that everyone was expecting, there was certainly plenty of talking points as Tottenham Hotspur failed to overcome Manchester City at Wembley. The champions were the clear favourites from before the game even kicked off, with a lot of fans pointing towards Mauricio Pochettino’s somewhat negative comments as a sign that things could be starting to unravel in North London. Beyond that, though, there was one storyline that caught the attention of many both in the stadium and around the world.

Poor start

That was, of course, the pitch. Courtesy of the NFL game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles just over 24 hours prior, the pitch wasn’t exactly in the best of states – which certainly doesn’t help the calls from fans for Spurs to hurry up and finish their new stadium. Either way it doesn’t feel like a better pitch would’ve impacted the result, especially given the poor kind of atmospheres that we’ve been experiencing during Spurs games at Wembley this season.

City started off very brightly as many were anticipating, and they made their pressure pay within six minutes as Riyad Mahrez put them ahead. From that point on they really did control the game in more ways than one, to the point where it got a little bit embarrassing at times. In fact, you could even compare it to the Mayweather/McGregor fight, in that Spurs would pop up with flashes of brilliance before being taken straight back down to Earth by the superior champions.

Things to think about

Spurs had a great chance to pinch a point late on but it just wasn’t meant to be, with the result confirming that they’d be finishing the matchday below bitter rivals Arsenal. That alone will hurt, but it’ll be a million times worse if that’s still the case by the time May rolls around.

Tottenham don’t have long at all to recover from this as they’ll be taking on West Ham United in less than 48 hours, in a Carabao Cup game. City, on the other hand, will have an extra day to rest as they host Fulham.

Match Report

Tottenham: Lloris (6), Trippier (5.5), D.Sanchez (6), Alderweireld (6), Davies (6), Dier (5.5), Winks (6.5), Dembele (6), Alli (6), Sissoko (6), Lamela (6.5), Moura (6), Eriksen (N/A), Kane (6)

Manchester City: Ederson (6.5), Walker (7), Stones (6.5), Laporte (6), Mendy (6.5), Bernardo Silva (6.5), Fernandinho (6)< Silva (6.5), Kompany (N/A), Mahrez (7), Jesus (N/A), Aguero (6.5), De Bruyne (6.5), Sterling (7)

Referee: Kevin Friend

Goals: Mahrez

Yellow Cards: Davies, Moura, Laporte, Fernandinho

Red Cards: N/A