Tottenham 2-2 Man City: Dominic Solanke scores twice as Spurs lead after a disastrous first half to earn a point and derail Josep Guardiola’s faltering title ambitions.
Thomas Frank has bought himself some more time (Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
21 months after a game they wanted to lose, Tottenham made an incredible comeback. And at the end of the game, the Tottenham fans gave the players a standing ovation, while the Manchester City players stumbled away in complete despair.
Just saying this is probably one of the weirdest games you’ll ever come across doesn’t do it justice. Tottenham were very bad in the first half. Embarrassingly yes. And in the second half, he became a warrior.
You may remember that two seasons ago, many Spurs fans wanted to lose to City in this penultimate game of the season to stop Arsenal from winning the title. This time, it was a big boon for arch-rivals Arsenal, as City dropped two points and are now six clear of Mikel Arteta’s side at the top of the table.
But this was about Tottenham. And maybe, just maybe, that will be the turning point Thomas Frank needs. This is because they were on their knees with injuries and were wasting their strength.
read more: Tottenham thwart Man City’s title hopes and offer Arsenal a helping hand – 5 talking pointsread more: Marco Silva fires at referee after controversial VAR decision helps Man United win
Still, Dominic Solanke was sensational in front of England manager Thomas Tuchel, scoring two goals. And Xavi Simmons produced an incredible performance of superhuman proportions. For such a small player, he played like a giant.
And the loser was City. The first half was so comfortable that Sky pundit Gary Neville described it as being like a Soccer Aid charity match. Tottenham weren’t even playing. However, by the end City had conceded more points. Incredibly, since January 1, the number of goals conceded in the second half has decreased by seven points.
It’s been 10 years since Pep Guardiola was appointed City manager. And while they will continue to do well at times, they have weaknesses not only in defense but also in the way they score points.
Dominic Solanke’s scorpion kick equalizes the score for Spurs (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
This is a million miles away from the traditional City side. They have sensational players and could eventually win the title. But they never gave their opponents a chance. They gave Spurs a point and gave Arsenal a big helping hand.
Don’t forget that Tottenham are so weak that they are missing 11 players due to injury, and Radu Dragusin started for the first time in 371 days. And it showed. They were terrible in the first half. It’s patchy and not even competitive.
City took the lead after just 11 minutes, but the goals were scattered due to Spurs’ mistakes. Yves Bissouma’s clearance went straight to Bernardo Silva. Erling Haaland fed Rayan Cherki, Dragusin stood off, gave City’s playmaker too much space to pick his position, and his shot deflected wide to Guglielmo Vicario, who perhaps should have done better.
Cherki could have added another point before Antoine Semenyo doubled their lead before half-time. A poor ball from Dragusin missed the defense and hit Rodri directly. Bernardo Silva shot Semenho and Semenho scored. The booing started.
Antoine Semenyo gives Manchester City a 2-0 win (Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It looked over. However, Frank hooked Cristian Romero and brought on Pape Matar Sarr to move into a back four, which suited City’s form and play. The fateful Oudogie witnessed a thunderous shot that was brilliantly saved by City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. But it gave the Spurs hope.
Solanke scrambled for the ball, stayed onside and threw himself into the scuffle inside the City box. Solanke actually kicked Marc Gehi in the back. That ultimately became Solanke’s goal.
There was more to come. Conor Gallagher raced up the right flank, his cross was brilliantly improvised by Solanke, who, with the ball behind him, somehow pulled off a brilliant scorpion kick past Donnarumma. It was an unbelievable goal.
Tottenham could have scored again. Simmons and Wilson Odbert were both denied by superb saves from Donnarumma. City attacked aggressively up front and surrounded them, but they were unable to get a shot on target in the second half. What a great result for Tottenham and North London as a whole.
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