Match report: Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham
Our chief football correspondent Daniel Taylor was at the Etihad to watch Manchester City tear Tottenham Hotspur apart with worrying ease. Here’s Daniel’s on-the-whistle report on a night City surged 14 points clear of the chasing posse. In mid-December.
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Ilkay Gundogan speaks ...
“Today was a special performance from all the team,” he tells BT Sport. “I am happy to be on the scoresheet but it was an incredible performance from all the team ... we could have scored a lot more goals.”
On his goal: “It was free header, so I was a bit lucky I suppose,” he says. “Obviously the Spurs players didn’t know how good I am with my head.” [Laughs]
Manchester City were outstanding ...
Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne got one each, while Raheem Sterling bagged two (and missed several sitters) as Manchester City hammered Spurs to go 14 points clear at the Premier League summit. It could have been a lot worse for outclassed Spurs, who bagged a late, late consolation but will go home knowing they could have finished the game with nine men, and that they could have lost by eight or nine if the victors had converted more of their chances.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 18 | 44 | 52 |
| 2 | Man Utd | 17 | 26 | 38 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 18 | 18 | 38 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 18 | 11 | 33 |
| 5 | Burnley | 18 | 4 | 32 |
Tottenham are in seventh, seeing as you’re asking.
Full-time: Manchester City 4-1 Tottenham 1
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over and Manchester City have swatted Tottenham Hotspur aside win their 16th consecutive Premier League match and go 14 points clear. Spurs had no answers there and will consider themselves lucky to get away from the Etihad tonight having lost by only three goals.
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GOAL! Man Cirty 4-1 Tottenham (Eriksen 90+3)
Christian Eriksen sends a low daisy-cutter into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area and doesn’t even bother celebrating.
90+2 min: Spurs have got a hiding here tonight, but in trutyh the scorelines could have been a lot worse from their point of view. They can probably count themselves lucky to escape the Etihad with ... oh, hold on.
GOAL! Man City 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Sterling 90)
Raheem Sterling practically walks the ball into the back of the Tottenham net after an Eric Dier mistake allows him to nutmeg Lloris and prod into an empty goal from six yards.
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89 min: Tottenham substitution: Danny Rose off, Ben Davies on.
88 min: Phil Foden gives the ball away halfway inside the Tottenham half, allowing Spurs to break on the counter. Not for long, mind – within seconds, Raheem Sterling is receiving a pass from Kevin De Bruyne and aiming for the top corner with a left-footed curler. Lloris saves and City have a corner.
86 min: Bernardo Silva stretches to catch a bouncing ball and forces Hugo Lloris to save at the near post and concede a corner. Nothing comes of it.
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85 min: Tottenham substitution: Dele Alli off, Moussa Sissoko on. Manchester City substitution: Leroy Sane off, after an excellent performance. Bernardo Silva on.
84 min: Manchester City substitution: Phil Foden on, Ilkay Gundogan off. The 17-year-old gets another chance to impress on City’s first team.
82 min: That was wonderful goal from City, a series of weighted passes serving to carve open Tottenham’s defence like a Christmas turkey. Sterling simply couldn’t miss after being unselfishly teed up by Sane.
GOAL! Man City 3-0 Spurs (Sterling 80)
Game, set and match. De Bruyne to Gundogan, who plays Sane in behind the Spurs defence. He crosses for Sterling, who slides in to poke the ball home at the far post from about three yards out.
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80 min: Back to the Manchester City penalty, which was as clear-cut a spot-kick award as you’ll ever see ... hold on.
78 min: Lamela pulls the ball back to Harry Winks on the penalty spot, but a heavy touch prevents the midfielder getting a shot off. He stayed on his feet there under a challenge from Mangala when he’d almost certainly have got a penalty if he’d gone to ground.
Gabriel Jesus misses!
76 min: Gabriel Jesus hits the foot of the left upright with his penalty kick and Raheem Sterling blazes over the bar with his follow-up. The goal was gaping. Spurs substitution: Erik Lamela on for Heung-min Son.
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Penalty for Manchester City!
74 min: Jan Vertonghen trips Kevin De Bruyne in the Tottenham penalty area and Craig Pawson points to the spot.
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72 min: Two minutes ago, De Bruyne was writhing around on the ground in agony after being fouled by Dele Alli, now he’s celebrating another fine goal to add to his show-reel. A mistake by Harry Kane at one end allowed Manchester City to break in numbers. Leroy Sane sent De Bruyne on his way down the inside left and despite having options to his right, he elected instead to send a left-footed surface to air screamer past Lloris, who might have got a touch on the ball but was powerless to keep it out.
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GOAL! Man City 2-0 Tottenham (De Bruyne 70)
Wow! A great goal from Kevin De Bruyne, who finishes a City counter-attack by lashing the ball past Lloris into the roof of the net from a narrow ankle.
68 min: Dele Alli is booked for a stamp on Kevin De Bruyne’s ankle. Looking at replays, I would say the Spurs midfielder is very, very lucky to escape a sending-off there. On the touchline, Pep Guardiola is furious.
67 min: Sane drives across the front of the Spurs penalty area, gliding past Trippier and unleashing a shot. Hugo Lloris keeps it out with a strong left hand, before Raheem Sterling blazes over when scoring looked easier. It wouldn’t have counted if Sterling had scored - the flag was up.
66 min: Danny Rose is penalised for hauling Kyle Walker to the ground, then spits his dummy at the injustice of it all. Replays show it was a fair cop.
65 min: Son tries his luck from distance. Wide.
63 min: Kevin De Bruyne pulls a low- diagonal shot wide of the far upright. From the goal-kick, Spurs get themselves in an awful mix-up trying to play the ball out from the back and Jan Vertonghen is eventually forced to boot the ball into the stand before it all goes completely pear-shaped.
62 min: Mousa Dembele gets booked for persistent fouling. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is on Fernandinho. During the break in play, Gabriel Jesus adjourns to the sideline to change his boots.
59 min: With the ball at his feet in the Manchester City penalty area, Ederson picks out Sterling on the right touchline with an inch-perfect 65-yard pass. Unbelievable.
57 min: Manchester City substitution: Sergio Aguero off, Gabriel Jesus on. On his way back to the dug-out, Sergio Aguero pulled off his gloves and threw them on the pitch, leaving Eric Dier to pick them up and throw them to the sideline. Here’s hoping Aguero’s hands don’t get too cold on that 15 yard walk to the bench. Gloves.
56 min: Otamendi clears the ensuing corner with a powerful header.
55 min: Ederson is forced to bat a Harry Kane shot from distance around the post for a corner.
54 min: Spurs continue to dominate this second half, trying their damnedest not to give City’s players much time on the ball. They still haven’t looked like scoring, mind.
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52 min: From the free-kick, the ball’s pinged into the penalty area by Christian Eriksen and Ederson clears with a fist. In the ensuing scramble for the lose ball, Harry Kane is booked for a studs up lunger on Raheem Sterling.
51 min: Delph fouls Trippier and gets a yellow card for his troubles. Spurs have a free-kick in the space between the touchline and the right side of the Manchester City penalty area.
50 min: Christian Eriksen sends Tottenham off on a counter-attack, which breaks down when Harry Kane overhits a pass to Son. Spurs are doing well in the early stages of this second half, but their final ball is letting them down.
48 min: Good defending from Leroy Sane, who gets back to get in front of Son to prevent the Tottenham winger from getting on the end of a Harry Kane cross to the far post.
47 min: Sergio Aguero wins a corner for Spurs off Harry Winks. The ball’s floated into the area, but Eliaquim Mangala’s header goes straight up in the air and Tottenham clear.
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47 min: Danny Rose tries to get forward down the inside left, but loses his balance and falls over.
46 min: The second half gets under way, with a fairly dense fog hovering over the Eithad Stadium sward. Here’s hoping our view of proceedings isn’t impaired.
3 - All three goals that Spurs have conceded in their last four Premier League games have all been headers from corners. Napping.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 16, 2017
Half-time: Man City 1-0 Tottenham
The players troop off for their half-time beverages with Manchester City winning by the only goal of the game, scored by the unmarked Ilkay Gundogan from a corner. Spurs may be losing, but can consider themselves very lucky indeed not to be three or four goals down. They’ve worked hard tonight, but some of their defending has been slapstick and they’ve been made to look very ordinary indeed.
45+1 min: Gundogan shoots from 20 yards, but Lloris saves easily. Sane was in splendid isolation to his left, but Gundogan went for goal when he should have crossed. Not long before that, Man City had a shout for a penalty turned down when the ball hit Rose’s arm in the penalty area.
45 min: It was good goalkeeping from Ederson, who’s been outstanding in his distribution tonight. He came out to claim a ball into the box from Winks to Ali, forcing the Tottenham midfielder to hurdle his body.
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43 min: Tottenham get forward, but a poor touch from Harry Kane as he tries to control a pass from Son in the penalty area sees a promising move break down. The ball ends up in the arms of Ederson, who sends City galloping up the pitch on the counter.
42 min: City go close again as Fernandinho plays the ball towards an unmarked Sergio Aguero at the far post. He’s offside.
39 min: City win a free-kick wide on the left after Dele Alli treads on Ilkay Gundogan’s instep. Tottenham, too, defend with a high line as Kevin De Bruyne sends the ball into the mixer. It’s cleared for a Manchester City throw-in.
37 min: Nicolas Otamendi catches Harry Kane in the face with a high boot as the pair contest a bouncing ball. Referee Craig Pawson books the Argentinian, who could conceivably have got a red card for that. It would have been harsh, but not completely outlandish.
35 min: A rare chance for Spurs, with Harry Kane curling a low effort a couple of feet wide of the right upright.
33 min: Manchester City go close twice in quick succession. A heavy touch from Sane enables Lloris to rush off his line and prevent the City winger from lifting the ball over him and into the back of the net. Moments later, Aguero pulls a low daisy-cutter wide from the edge of the area. Tottenham’s defence is all over the place here and the only thing preventing City from filling their boots are their own poorly aligned cross-hairs.
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31 min: There’s a break in play as Trippier gets medical treatment, possibly for an injury sustained while making the clearance I just mentioned, or possibly because he’s dizzy and seeing cartoon canaries chirruping around his head from the run-around he’s getting from Leroy Sane.
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30 min: Leroy Sane takes on the frazzled Trippier once again, but this time the Spurs full-back manages to win possession and boot the ball upfield.
29 min: Leroy Sane wreaks havoc down the left once again after latching on to a killer pass in behind the Spurs defence from Kevin De Bruyne. Sane pulls the ball back to Aguero, whose shot is blocked by Danny Rose.
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26 min: Spurs win a free-kick wide on the right about 40 yards from the Man City goal. City opt to defend it with a defensive line so high up the pitch it’s 10 yards outside their own penalty area. Eriksen sends the ball into space behind it, but Ederson gathers under no pressure whatsoever.
24 min: Through in goal after being put in behind the Spurs defence by Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero brings a smart save out of Hugo Lloris, who can only parry the ball. It breaks kindly for Raheem Sterling, who fires over the bar. Another let-off for Spurs. A tip of the hat, also, to Ederson – the Manchester City goalkeeper began the move with another 50-yard pass to Leroy Sane. There may only be a goal in it, but Spurs are looking like they could ship a hideously bad beating here.
22 min: Manchester City are denied a clear penalty when Danny Rose gives Eliaquim Mangala a two-handed shove in the small of the back as the City central defender contested a high ball in the Tottenham penalty area. It was an incredibly dim-witted thing for Rose to do, but he’s got away with it.
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21 min: Nothing comes from the corner, at which Eric Dier took time out of his evening to mark Ilkay Gundogan.
20 min: Sane goes the better of Trippier again, going around his outside and pulling the ball back into the penalty area. It’s poked wide for a corner.
18 min: Manchester City appear to have identified Kieran Trippier’s wing as the one on which to make hay today and once again Leroy Sane chugs that way. This time Tottenham clear.
15 min: In for David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan fulfils the Spaniard’s duties with ease. The ball was floated in from the corner flag by Sane and he was allowed to wander, completely unmarked, into the Tottenham penalty area. Despite being one of the most diminutive players on the pitch, he still had to stoop to head home from eight yards. Mauricio Pochettino will be furious.
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GOAL! Man City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Gundogan 14)
A completely unmarked Ilkay Gundogan stoops to score with his head from the corner.
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14 min: Eric Dier concedes a corner after good work down the inside left by Leroy Sane ...
12 min: Mousa Dembele rolls the ball back for Lloris to hoof clear, but the Tottenham goalkeeper completely shanks his clearance, sending the ball out for a throw-in halfway inside the Tottenham half. The Frenchman glares accusingly at the pitch, suggesting the ball got a bobble, or at the very least he’d like us all to think it got one.
11 min: City win a free-kick wide on the right, which Kevin De Bruyne sends curling into the corrido of uncertainty. Sergio Aguero gets his head to head to it, but steers the ball wide. It wouldn’t have counted if his aim had been better - he was offside.
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9 min: Leroy Sane takes on and beats Kieran Trippier down the left flank and drills in a low cross. Vertonghen blocks and clears, with Sergio Aguero lurking behind him.
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8 min: This match has got off to a real helter-skelter start, with each side trying to impose themselves on the other. Manchester City just about have the upper hand, but there’s not much in it.
7 min: Hugo Lloris does a bit of sweeper-keeping of his own, rushing out of his area to hoof the ball into the stands under pressure from Raheem Sterling.
5 min: Mousa Dembele is lucky to avoid an early yellow card for a late lunge on Kevin De Bruyne.
4 min: It’s shaping up to be a good game, with Tottenham showing no signs of meekness as they enter the belly of the beast. They’re trying to press Manchester City back in a bid to take the game to them - only time will tell whether or not they’ll succeed.
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2 min: Tottenham send three players forward to press Manchester City as Ederson tries to play the ball out from the back. No bother - instead, the goalkeeper pings a 50-yard pass straight to the feet of Kyle Walker near the intersection of halfway line and touchline.
1 min: City go on the offensive early doors, with assorted Spurs players snapping around their ankles. Mousa Dembele is in to break up one early move, then Jan Vertonghen harries Sergio Aguero to disrupt another.
1 min: Manchester City kick off, playing in their usual home kit of light blue shirts, white shorts and light blue and white hooped socks. Tottenham’s players wear navy shirts, shorts and socks.
Not long now ...
The players give the patrons of Manchester City’s Tunnel Club their money’s worth before ambling out on the pitch to go through the last of the pre-match niceties. Kick off is just moments away.
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Mauricio Pochettino speaks ...
On how to stop Manchester City: “That is the question for the past six months here in England,” he says. “They are a fantastic side, they are playing so well but we are going to fight to try to win.”
Pep Guardiola speaks ...
Talking to BT Sport smoothie-in-chief, the Manchester City manager says it’s tough trying to maintain his team’s current winning run: “Of course it will be tougher,” he says. “We have in one side a lot of confidence but we are relaxed and know what we have to do. Sooner or later we’ll come back to normality.
On Silva’s absence: “David is out because of a personal issue.”
December 3, 2017: That’s the last time anyone beat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Chelsea were the team in question, winning 378 days ago.
David Silva is out for "personal reasons"
That’s what Manchester City have said about the absence of their best player, without offering any further explanation. Here’s hoping it’s not down to anything too serious.
Team news ...
David Silva is a conspicuous absentee from Manchester City’s squad, for reasons that remain unclear - perhaps he’s just being given a well earned rest. Ilkay Gundogan makes his first start in three games, while Leroy Sane returns after being given a night off midweek against Swansea. Tottenham old boy Kyle Walker also returns to City’s starting line-up, having been stood down on Wednesday.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino recalls Dele Alli to his starting line-up, with Erik Lamela making way. Mpousa Dembele and Kieran Trippier are also in for Moussa Sissoko and Serge Aurier.
Manchester City v Tottenham line-ups
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Mangala, Delph, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Sterling, Aguero, Sane.
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, Toure, Foden.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Dembele, Winks, Eriksen, Alli, Son, Kane.
Subs: Lamela, Vorm, Sissoko, Llorente, Foyth, Aurier, Davies.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur ...
Liverpool. Chelsea. Arsenal. Man United. One by one Manchester City’s rivals in the Big Six have stepped up to take a shot at runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City and one by one they’ve failed to land a glove on Pep Guardiola’s side. Today it’s the turn of Tottenham Hotspur to try and do something only Everton have done in the Premier League so far this season: deprive them of all three points. Whether or not they can end City’s 15-match winning streak in the league remains to be seen. FKick-off is at 5.30pm (GMT), but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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