FULL TIME: Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham will point to referee Jon Moss pointing to the spot. Four times. But you can make a case for, if not necessarily agree with, pretty much every decision the referee made. Soft spot kicks and red cards, yes, but no egregious outrages. Sometimes teams just don’t get the breaks. Spurs didn’t today, though they were magnificent at times in attack. City were however much the better side, the world-class Sergio Aguero scoring four goals. Four goals. A much-deserved win, though expect the post-match press conferences, and no doubt some online chat, to be lively. You can’t knock another five-goal thriller, though. City and Spurs: delivering goalfests since 1909!
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90 min: Yaya Toure channels his inner Garrincha and nearly dribbles himself clear down the right, but upon reaching the Spurs area miscontrols and overruns the ball.
87 min: City are playing keepball. Then they spring to life, as Jovetic glides in from the left and offloads to Milner, who curls a powerful shot round Lloris and onto the right-hand post! City have been superlative going forward this afternoon. Outstanding. Astonishing.
85 min: Both sides seem happy enough to run down the clock.
82 min: Jovetic springs Milner free down the inside-right channel with a lovely sliderule pass. Milner cocks his leg back to shoot, but Rose executes a perfect sliding tackle to intercept and clear the danger. Spurs don’t deserve to be humiliated here.
80 min: Townsend zig-zags in from the right and fires a heatseeker towards the top left from 20 yards. It’s a fine effort, but rising just over the bar. Tottenham have ended up taking a bit of a belt in the mouth here today, but they’ve been effervescent in attack, and given the borderline nature of a couple of these big decisions, could have easily had more of a reward. Funny old game, football, as a Spurs legend once famously opined.
78 min: City are stroking it around for fun now.
76 min: Yaya Toure comes on for Fernando.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Aguero 75)
A long ball down the City right. Aguero takes up possession, drops a shoulder to cut inside, and lashes low and hard into the bottom-left corner. What a finish! Four goals in a game, and a missed penalty!
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74 min: But that one’s battered into the wall. Eriksen’s shoulders droop. A little fight has gone out of Tottenham with that double penalty whammy, not to mention the red card. A general sense that Fazio has been unfortunate to see red, though Kaboul failed to clear the cross, taking a fresh-air swipe, so Aguero would have had the ball in front of an empty net six yards out. And when you start tugging folk back in the area, you’re asking for trouble.
73 min: Dembele jinks down the left channel and is unceremoniously barged to the floor by Fernandinho. A free kick in a very dangerous position, 25 yards out, especially as Eriksen is on form today.
70 min: A change apiece, as Vertonghen comes on for Mason, while Silva makes way for Jovetic.
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GOAL!!! Manchester City 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Aguero 68 pen)
Aguero isn’t going to top two penalties in one match, and this one’s cleanly dispatched into the bottom left corner. Has this game got anything left for us?
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Another penalty! This time for City! And a red card!
67 min: That’s what’s going to happen next! Rose misjudges a high ball down the City right. Navas races clear and reaches the byline. He fires the ball across the middle. Aguero was racing in to hammer home, but is tugged to the floor by Fazio, who has according to the referee denied the striker a clear goalscoring opportunity. Hmm. Kaboul was nearby, though Aguero was so close to goal you can see why Fazio’s been sent packing.
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65 min: Milner connects with a left-wing cross at the right-hand post. Lloris parries and claims. What next?
64 min: This is an astonishing game of football! Rose makes good down the left wing and fires a low ball across for Soldado, who this time connects with the ball properly, sweeping a lovely first-time effort goalwards from 12 yards. If only he managed that 120 seconds earlier. But Hart is behind it all the way. Goodness me.
Spurs miss the penalty!
62 min: Soldado scuffs a dreadful effort towards the bottom-left corner. Hart is behind it all the way, parrying a ball that’s soon hacked clear!
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Penalty for Spurs!
61 min: Soldado cuts in from the right and is clipped - very, very lightly - on the ankle by Demichelis. Another soft penalty, as the referee points to the spot!
60 min: A double change for Spurs, as Dembele and Townsend come on for Capoue and Lamela.
59 min: City come close twice within a minute, Navas zipping down the right and powering a shot towards the bottom corner. It’s turned clear by Lloris. Then another City attack down the same wing, Silva lashing a cross-cum-shot through the six-yard box, Aguero inches away from sliding it home. The striker can only connect with the post, but he’ll be OK.
57 min: Rose fizzes a cross from the left straight through the City area. Spurs gather themselves, and Eriksen is soon dancing right to left across the front of the City box, and into the area. He attempts to clip the ball back inside and goalwards, and claims a handball as it strikes Sagna’s hand. No penalty. Sagna’s hand wasn’t far from his body, and the player was very close to Eriksen.
56 min: A poor clearing header by Kompany drops to Chadli, on the edge of the box to the left of the D. Chadli chests down and loops a shot wide left. Spurs are getting back into this now.
55 min: Spurs win a corner down the left, from which they win a corner down the right. Lamela’s delivery is dismal, failing to beat the first man, and suddenly City are on a quick break. Navas, scooting down the left, attempts to curl one into the far right, but his effort is blocked. All he gets for sprinting all the way upfield is a yellow card, earned for clipping Chadli’s heels.
53 min: Spurs however have decided that the best form of defence is attack. Eriksen and Soldado exchange passes as they push forward to gain a foothold deep in City territory. Mason joins in from deep, and nearly breaks clear into the box, but takes a heavy touch as he plays the ball through the City back line, and the ball flies out of play. That’s a bit better from Spurs, and it’s all happening a very long way from their goal, giving the defence a little breather.
51 min: Navas in acres down the right. A simple ball inside will release Silva into the Spurs box, but he plays it slightly behind his team-mate, and all momentum is gone. City have started this second half very strongly. Spurs just need to dig in here for a bit, then see how things pan out as the clock ticks on.
49 min: Aguero, 25 yards out, lashes a low shot straight at Lloris. It’s one hell of a strike, swerving away to the right at the very last. Lloris, slightly wrong footed, manages to right himself and parries. A brilliant save with a strong left hand. Then City are coming straight back at Spurs, Clichy making good down the right and fizzing a low ball towards the near post. Aguero, rushing in, clearly in the mood to claim his hat-trick, can only fire wide right under extreme pressure from Kaboul.
47 min: Aguero is close to breaking clear down the middle, but Kaboul just about manages to overpower him on the edge of the Spurs D. Another goal for City and you’d assume this one is all over.
46 min: Another 45 minutes like the first 45 minutes, please!
And we're off again!
Tottenham get the ball rolling for the second period. No changes. Now then, Tottenham fans could be forgiven for having the full-on funk with referee Jon Moss.Reruns of City’s first goal show that Lampard was in an offside decision and in line between Lloris and Aguero, so arguably interfering with play. There was a Spurs defender just in front of Lampard, so you can make the argument that Lloris would have been unsighted by his own man anyway. But still. Then to the first penalty, which was very soft, Lamela only just brushing Lampard’s back. This will sound like a cop out (and it is) but you’ve seen them given. However, Moss was the touchline official who called Danny Rose’s sending off in the 5-1 at White Hart Lane last season. That decision cooked Tottenham’s goose that day. On the touchline for BT Sport during the interval, erstwhile Spurs boss Tim Sherwood gave the following tinder-dry capsule analysis: “Moss likes to give penalties even when he’s not on the pitch.”
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Half-time entertainment: Recreate the Eastlands PA system in the comfort of your own home!
A track composed by Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme of 10cc. New Order were by no means the first Mancunian act to grab a share of the football-song dollar.
HALF TIME: Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Capoue tries to score from 40 yards, the outcome predictable. Up the other end, Navas cuts in from the right and sends a riser just over the bar, though Lloris had it covered. And that’s that for the first half. A couple of Spurs players think about having a word with referee Jon Moss, presumably to moan about that very soft first penalty. Nevertheless, the scoreline’s just about right on balance. Having said that, the scoreline could be just about anything, in favour of either side. This has been superlative entertainment.
45 min: Milner bombs down the middle and blooters a shot towards the bottom right. Lloris flops over it like a wet blanket, the fire out. There will be three added minutes. Nobody will begrudge a single second, because this has been a spectacular end-to-end romp.
44 min: Milner crunch-tackles Capoue in the centre circle. City are three on two. The ball’s slipped down the inside-right channel for Navas, who is clear on goal. His rising shot is straight at Lloris, who does his level best to punch the ball into the top-left corner, but gets just enough on it. The ball flies over the bar, for a corner from which nothing comes.
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43 min: Soldado turns Clichy near the halfway line and hares off down the right. Upon reaching the box, he feeds Eriksen, who is having a brilliant game. The Dane can’t quite get a shot away. The ball finds Capoue, 25 yards out. His shot is no good.
41 min: Spurs have woken up. Eriksen twists and turns down the inside-right channel. He should shoot upon making space in the area, but lays off for Lamela in the centre. His effort is blocked, but the ball rebounds to Mason, who batters a fine effort goalwards. Hart parries clear, and the flag goes up for offside, Soldado still snoozing in the centre. But this is better from Spurs, who should be in all sorts of trouble, but after Aguero’s penalty miss are still in this highly entertaining game!
40 min: Eriksen makes himself a bit of space down the inside-right channel, dropping a shoulder then sending a swerving, rising effort towards the top-right corner. Hart punches it up and out for a corner, from which nothing develops.
37 min: Navas chases a ball down the right. He’s never getting to the ball ahead of Rose, and clips the full back’s ankle. No booking, though that looked deliberate. No booking either for Capoue, who plants his studs on Silva’s ankle soon after. That’s a poor show by the referee in both instances. He gets it right in between times, cautioning Dier for a cynical clip on Silva as City look to break down the left. All of this officialdom has broken up the rhythm of a fantastic game of football.
34 min: Mason shoulders Clichy to the floor and is booked, presumably for some backchat, because otherwise that’s never a caution.
33 min: Spurs nearly look that gift horse in the mouth, allowing Aguero to tear clear on goal, chasing after a long ball, from the halfway line! He picks up possession and dances into the area down the right-hand channel. He turns Kaboul, the only Spurs player to catch up, inside out, but batters his shot straight at Lloris, who nevertheless saves brilliantly!
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City miss the penalty!
32 min: A very strange spot kick by Aguero, who tops the ball in the style of a weekend golfer. His shot, straight down the middle, is kicked away by Lloris. The ball rebounds to Aguero at mid height. He tries to acrobatically volley into the unguarded net, Lloris on the floor, but spoons over. Spurs live again!
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Another penalty for City!
31 min: Milner flies at speed down the left. He slips the ball inside for Silva, who takes the opportunity to go over the rash Kaboul’s hanging leg.
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29 min: Spurs put a few passes together in the City half, attempting to regain their early confidence. Kompany bangs into the back of Chadli, 25 yards from goal, just to the left of the target. Eriksen gets the free kick up over the wall, but not back down quickly enough for the ball to nestle into the top-left corner. A decent enough attempt, mind you.
28 min: Fernandinho comes on for Lampard. I wonder what he thought about Fernando’s earlier shocker? It wasn’t wholly dissimilar to the Brazilian’s meltdown against Germany at the World Cup.
26 min: Lampard is down on the ground, having jiggered his thigh when stretching for a ball in a footrace with Mason. He won’t be continuing.
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23 min: Space for Navas down the right. He pulls a low ball back onto the penalty spot, where Aguero swivels and thrashes a first-time shot goalwards. A few inches to either side, and that would have been a ten-minute hat-trick, but it’s straight at Lloris, who smothers. All of a sudden, Spurs are rocking seriously here; City had a two-on-one overlap down the left a while before that, but the combination didn’t come off.
22 min: Rose miscontrols a high bouncing ball down the right. Aguero is clear on goal as a result, but the flag goes up for offside. Lucky Rose.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Aguero 20 pen)
That’s rolled into the bottom corner with supreme confidence by Aguero, who is now Manchester City’s all-time leading scorer since football was invented by Amstrad’s Alan Sugar [subs: please check] in 1992: 59 goals, one more than Carlos Tevez, seeing you ask.
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Penalty for City!
19 min: City tiki-taka the ball down the left. Lampard exchanges passes with Milner and enters the area. Lamela brushes his back, and Lampard takes the opportunity to attach his nipples to the turf. A soft one, but there was a little contact, and the referee points to the spot.
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17 min: And it should be 2-1 to City, as the home side win a corner down the right. The set piece is met by Fernando who, clear on the penalty spot, should be making up for his error by crashing a header home. He guides a poor effort wide left. And breathe! They’re not going to bother breathing, are they? What an excellent game this is!
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Eriksen 15)
The goalfest is on! Fernando is caught fannying around in the middle of his own half by a sharp slide tackle from Mason. Soldado takes up the loose ball and strides forward, rolling the ball right for Eriksen,who enters the area and lashes a stupendous effort past Hart and into the top-left. Hart got a foot to it, and is lucky it hasn’t been knocked clean off. That ball lashed into the roof of the net!
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GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Aguero 13)
Did you predict that City would score first, then? Well done. Lampard busies himself down the inside-left channel, and upon reaching the Spurs area, slides a ball forward to Aguero, who takes a touch inside and larrups a low curler past Lloris and into the bottom-right corner. Unstoppable! That’s six in six against City for Aguero!
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12 min: A beautifully open start to this game. Good luck in predicting who’ll score first. Navas makes good down the right, reaching the byline and firing a low ball into the Spurs six-yard box. Lloris smothers, but only after performing a little song and dance with Aguero lurking.
10 min: And now it’s City’s turn to give the scoreboard a whack, see if they can get the digits turning as they so often do when these teams meet. Aguero exchanges passes with Silva, cutting in from the left. He’s one on one with Lloris, but offside. Just.
8 min: Lovely football from Spurs here, as Eriksen dances around on the edge of the City box, cutting in from the right and slipping the ball left for Soldado, who slips the ball back into the box for Mason, breaking into the area down the middle. He’s clear on goal! He should dink over Hart for the opener, but allows the keeper to smother. Spurs are soon coming back at City, too, Eriksen breaking into the box from the right and lashing over the bar from a tight-ish angle, ten yards out. In fact that’s deflected, though nowt comes from the corner.
7 min: Where’s this goalfest, then? Come on lads, don’t let your forefathers down!
6 min: The ball drops to Mason, 20 yards out, just to the left of the D. He squirts a poor effort wide left. Tottenham will be happy enough with this start, though.
3 min: A high-tempo start. Jesus Navas shows a couple of times down the City right, but can’t do anything useful with the ball. Up the other end, Lamela goes on a right-wing sortie of his own, and so nearly flicks Eriksen clear down the channel and into the City box. Kompany is over quickly to snuff out the attack. Spurs looked lively there.
2 min: Aguero tries to diddle his way through the Spurs defence down the inside-left channel. He’s crowded off the ball by Fazio and Dier, and the ball bounces harmlessly through to the empurpled Lloris.
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And we're off!
After the PA belts out a version of Blue Moon, the match kicks off. A key event if there ever was one, huh? City key event the ball, and pass it around the back a bit, though Spurs are pressing hard in the Pochettino Manner.
The teams are out! Manchester City in their famous powder blue. Tottenham in black, though of course they should be playing in white. Why are they not? You know why not. Hugo Lloris in a fetching bright purple. We’ll be off in a minute. It’s on!
The teamsheets
Manchester City: Hart, Sagna, Demichelis, Kompany, Clichy, Milner, Fernando, Jesus Navas, Lampard, Silva, Aguero.
Subs: Dzeko, Kolarov, Caballero, Fernandinho, Jovetic, Boyata, Toure.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dier, Kaboul, Fazio, Rose, Capoue, Mason, Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli, Soldado.
Subs: Vertonghen, Adebayor, Vorm, Townsend, Kane, Dembele, Stambouli.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
But enough of me droning on about that! It’s often a goalfest when these two teams get it on. The last six fixtures, City’s score first: 5-1, 6-0, 1-3, 2-1, 3-2, 5-1. There’s that famous second-half, four-goal comeback by ten-man City in the FA Cup at White Hart Lane in 2004. A 5-2 home win for City in 1994. Spurs thrashing City 4-2 at Maine Road in the Cup in 1993. Seven goals at the 1981 FA Cup final, of course. City beating relegation-bound Spurs 5-0 in 1977. A 4-0 win for City in 1971. City winning 4-1, 3-1 and 4-0 within an 11-month period in 1967 and 1968. City beating reigning league champions Spurs 6-2 in March 1962. City winning 5-1 in … here, City are thrashing Spurs a lot … in 1959. The pair giving each other 5-1 hidings in 1957/58! Spurs beating City 5-1 in 1934. This is absurd!!! More of this today, please, teams!
Turns out the die was cast the very first time these two teams met, in the FA Cup in January 1909. The result counted as a shock, Spurs of the Second Division beating City of the First 4-3 at the Manchester club’s Hyde Road ground. Mind you, as Spurs were on their way to promotion, while City were busy getting themselves relegated, maybe it wasn’t a huge one. The muddy conditions were not conducive to good football. “In places, slush was ankle deep,” reported the Manchester Guardian, “and the strong wind which blew diagonally across the ground were against accuracy of method. To be of any use, a pass had to be kept low, and to place a corner kick well, it was necessary to aim many yards wide of the mark.”
City quickly went 2-0 up through a Tom Holford brace, but Spurs boasted the amateur England international Vivian Woodward in their line-up. Woodward was the real deal - he would score 29 goals in 23 international matches - and Tottenham’s star “set to work in grim earnest. Coolness was necessary, and the example of self-control which he showed soon infected his colleagues.” Woodward’s promptings helped Spurs to haul themselves level by half-time, though they were assisted by City’s Tommy Kelso, who took a fresh-air kick while attempting to complete a simple clearance, then fell over backwards, helping the ball into his own net. City then missed a penalty, while Spurs scored from the spot themselves before adding a fourth. Holford completed his hat-trick to give City hope, but it wasn’t enough.
An absurd defensive error and a two-goal lead blown. Oh, and leading goalscorer Irvine Thornley and wily midfielder Jimmy Blair weren’t playing, punished by the club for demanding extra cash money. Typical City. It would seem they had a capacity to shoot themselves in the foot from the get-go.
Manchester City won this fixture 6-0 last season, and two months later triumphed 5-1 at White Hart Lane. Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to improve on that today, I’ll be bound.
Kick off: 12.45pm.
