Blues 90 Minutes Away From Glory
Manchester City put one hand on the Premier League trophy after a hard-fought yet vital win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Two goals from Erling Haaland sent the Blues back to the top of the table as they finally broke their league duck in North London. Haaland tapped home in the 52nd minute to give City the lead, but it was substitute Stefan Ortega who proved to be the hero, making a brilliant save from Son Heung-Min with the score at 1-1. And Haaland scored a late penalty to secure the points, sending the faithful ecstatic in the stands.
It was a match of huge significance, not just for City and Arsenal, but for the home side and fourth-placed Aston Villa. If Spurs won, it would put them within two points of Villa, but would practically hand the title to their fierce North London rivals. And for a while in the second half, it looked like Spurs would make a fight of it as they began to push City after conceding.
That came after a first half that presented few chances for either side, but dismissed fears that Spurs would simply roll over and allow City the victory. After just six minutes, Ederson was forced to make a save from Rodrigo Bentancur, while Phil Foden was denied at the other end by Vicario in the Spurs goal.
Ederson was again called into action to deny Brennan Johnson, while Josko Gvardiol went close for City, hitting a shot over the bar after great work by Bernardo Silva. 0-0 after a tense first half, Arsenal fans will have been celebrating and hoping Spurs could continue to frustrate the blues.
The first warning that City had stepped things up came just 60 seconds after the restart, when Kevin de Bruyne’s vicious shot was palmed away by Vicario. Spurs had tried and failed to play the ball out from the back, which gave the Belgian a sniff of goal and Vicario had to be at his best to deny the City maestro the first goal.
The warning signs were there and not heeded by the home side as City finally scored their first league goal at Spurs. Silva played in de Bruyne inside the penalty area and the City kingpin fired the ball across the goal for Haaland to tap home his 26th Premier League goal of the season.
Haaland may have suspected offside which is why his celebrations were muted, but de Bruyne was onside and the goal was City’s first in the league at Spurs. And what a time to get it. Like he has been all season, Haaland was in the right place at the right time to meet the cross and the City fans inside the stadium erupted with delight.
Soon after, there was concern for both de Bruyne and Ederson in quick succession that kept the City medical team busy. First, de Bruyne turned sharply and fell to the floor in pain, followed by a clash between Ederson and Romero of Spurs, which resulted in another lengthy delay.
Although they tried to continue, both were withdrawn, with Ortega and Jeremy Doku coming on in the 69th minute. Ederson was in tears as he sat and watched from the bench, but he must have been impressed as his replacement made a string of saves to keep Spurs out, the best of which to deny Son an almost certain equaliser. The South Korean striker was one-on-one with the City keeper, but Ortega produced a stunning save to preserve City’s lead with just five minutes remaining.
Manuel Akanji was dispossessed and Son latched onto the loose ball and put some space between himself and Ruben Dias, only to see his shot saved by the leg of Ortega. Pep Guardiola’s reaction said it all as he fell to the floor expecting a goal, and was relieved to see his substitute make the save
That spurred City on to try and score a second to make the game safe and it duly arrived from the boot of Haaland. Doku raced into the penalty area and was brought down when in a good position. The referee pointed to the spot and Haaland made no mistake. The Norwegian sent Vicario the wrong way and City went 2-0 up and top of the league.
The faithful celebrated as the Blues saw out the lengthy injury time to go above Arsenal by two points. The result means City need to beat West Ham on Sunday to win the Premier League for a fourth successive time, a feat that has never been accomplished before.
Final Score: Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Manchester City
Source - bitterandblue.sbnation.com