Harry Kane broke the team’s scoring record on Sunday, giving Tottenham a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The hopes of Manchester City winning the Premier League were dealt a further setback by this.
Despite having played one extra game, Pep Guardiola’s squad fell five points behind league leaders Arsenal after failing to mount a real threat on Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris during a lacklustre display.
Kane eclipsed Jimmy Greaves’ 267 goals for Spurs, who are now in fifth place and only one point outside the Champions League positions, with his goal in the 15th minute. Greaves is a club legend and scored 267 goals for Spurs. Cristian Romero was subsequently removed four minutes from time for a second yellow card offence after two clumsy challenges—the first on Erling Haaland in the game’s opening half and the second on Jack Grealish in the final seconds.
quick reaction
1. Man City wastes a fantastic opportunity.
Arsenal unlocked Manchester City’s door, but they were unable to enter. City may have stoked the title race on Sunday as a consequence of the Gunners’ 1-0 setback at Everton the day before, but despite dominating possession against Tottenham, they created almost nothing noteworthy in a lifeless performance.
Arsenal put on possibly their worst performance of the year at Goodison Park, and they surely followed City’s efforts to close the gap with apprehension. City, who have four titles in the previous five years, have shown their capacity to compete over great distances, but they weren’t particularly strong here.
Despite the fact that there is still plenty of time for the season to end, Guardiola highlighted worries about his team’s tenacity after the rematch from last month, which Man City rallied back to win 4-2 after going down 2-0.
Unusual as it may seem, maybe there is something about this region that draws tourists: City has played five times at this expensive new stadium, losing each contest without scoring a goal.
For Tottenham, Kane breaks a record.
Kane has undoubtedly scored the most goals in Tottenham’s history. The 29-year-old showed his trademark composure to beat Ederson with a low finish for his 267th Spurs goal, moving him ahead of Jimmy Greaves, after collecting Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s pass in the area in the sixteenth minute. Kane is now only the third player in Premier League history to score 200 goals, after only Wayne Rooney (206) and Alan Shearer (260). (208). Kane achieved the milestone first, requiring only 304 games, ahead of Shearer (306) and Rooney (462).
Later, in an on-pitch interview, Kane reminisced on his 11-year-old experience joining the team and referred to it as a “great experience,” emphasising the “hard work and commitment” it needed to get here. Even if the England captain keeps racking up individual successes, Kane’s career-long issue is the lack of recognition for his special talent. Lack of titles was Kane’s motivation for wanting to leave Spurs in 2021; however, Spurs blocked the deal, which led Pep Guardiola to focus on Erling Haaland.
3. Guardiola’s modifications make things murky.
The City manager is one of the finest managers in history, but one of the few persistent criticisms he faces is that he has a tendency to overcomplicate his team’s plan for crucial games. Another game that seems appropriate to add is this one.
The omission of Kevin De Bruyne, perhaps the best ball-handler in Premier League history, was a mistake that was clear, but more crucially, Guardiola’s 4-2-4 shape did not provide the desired results. It was undoubtedly done with the intention of pinning Tottenham’s wing-backs back, but it just serves to highlight how important it is to play out from the back without squandering the ball. Tottenham capitalised on a turnover by Rico Lewis within his own zone, which is how City lost this game.
Even though Haaland had a furious start to life in England, City only marginally improved once De Bruyne entered shortly before the hour mark, and it’s still possible that they haven’t discovered out how to incorporate him continuously. His 27 touches were the fewest of any outfield player to play 90 minutes, and he failed to register a shot of any sort, which was a first for him since joining Manchester City in the summer.
When it came to managing Spurs, Cristian Stellini did a fantastic job in place of Antonio Conte, who is currently recuperating from gall bladder surgery. By motivating his players from the sidelines as Spurs fought to a tough win, Stellini increased his own personal record. Stellini helped Tottenham upset Marseille in November so that they could advance to the knockout round of the Champions League.
The two most dreadful and spectacular performances
Tottenham’s Harry Kane, FW: Before scoring the game’s first goal, he hadn’t even taken a kick, and he did it well to give Spurs something to guard against.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, MF, Tottenham: He displayed the tenacity of Tottenham with yet another all-action midfield display, pushing well to set up the game’s lone goal and recovering the ball eight times (more than any other Spurs player).
Eric Dier, DF, Manchester City, defended bravely when City had possession of the ball and helped Spurs maintain their defensive form.
MOST HORRIBLE Manchester City’s Rico D. F. Lewis Lewis threw the ball away for Tottenham’s first goal, which put his team at a disadvantage.
Cristian Romero of Tottenham was sent off after two clumsy tackles; in the first, he scythed down Haaland 70 yards from his own goal.
Jack Grealish, MF for Manchester City, saw a lot of the ball but was unable to make much of it since the team struggled to enter the final third.
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