Tottenham’s three-game winning run in the Premier League came to an end at the hands of Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur had gone into the home game against Manchester City on the back of three Premier League wins on Wednesday evening.
Given the recent form of the two teams, Spurs were slight favourites to win the contest. And by doing so, they would have beaten Man City thrice in this season. However, that was not the case as Ange Postecoglou’s side slumped to a 1-0 loss to the Sky Blues.
Wednesday’s 1-0 loss was Tottenham’s 14th defeat of a difficult Premier League campaign, but there were certainly positives to take for Ange Postecoglou. After a first half that was completely dominated by City, the Lilywhites attacked with renewed energy after the interval and deserved an equaliser at least.
Ederson made a series of fine saves, with his last-gap effort to keep Son Heung-min at bay proving to be the best of the bunch on the night that helped City avoid a clean-sweep of defeats at the hands of Postecoglou’s side. Pape Matar Sarr had a chance at the death to equalise but he couldn’t time his header that went over the bar.
With better decision-making in the final third and finishing, the story could have been different at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In his post-match duties, Postecoglou rued his team’s lack of finishing and entries in the final third in the slender 1-0 defeat to City.
“First half we had to hang in there, created a couple of chances but we were wasteful with the ball. Second half we dominated in all areas but missed a goal to get something out of the game,” Postecoglou told BBC Match of the Day (h/t BBC Sport).
“We always knew we would finish strong, we always do, but in the first half, we turned the ball over too many times, if you do that against City you allow them to get into a rhythm.
“Some cleaner final third entries we could have had some more chances.”
It is a bump on the road for Tottenham. The defeat breaks the momentum with which Big Ange and Co. were going of late. Wins over Brentford, Manchester United and Ipswich Town meant the players were in high spirits heading into this midweek fixture.
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However, we just could not transform that confidence on the pitch in the first half which was totally controlled by Pep Guardiola’s side. Big Ange’s men did show a response after the interval, with Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence coming off the bench and making an impact. Had Spurs been clinical, the outcome could have been different.
Nonetheless, Big Ange now have a week to rest and recuperate before the crucial first leg of the Europa League round of 16 clash against AZ Alkmaar at home.
