Premier League: Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

Manchester City got the better of Tottenham for the second time in four days as the home side won 1-0 at the Etihad. The Cityzens dominated for long stretches of the game and deserved the victory.

The hosts controlled the formative stages of the match and enjoyed the early possession. They made their superiority count when Phil Foden nodded in the opener in the 5th minute. The Englishman ventured into the Spurs’ penalty area unnoticed and was superbly found by Sergio Aguero.

After the goal went in, City tried to increase their advantage yet couldn’t conjure anything substantial.

The opening minutes of the second period saw the visitors do the early running. However, the hosts quickly staved off the away side’s threat and started to turn the screw. Unfortunately for City, they weren’t able to add to their tally.

Here is a look at the five talking points from the game.

#5 Mauricio Pochettino gets his tactics wrong

Foyth and Tottenham suffered due to their tactics

Mauricio Pochettino raised plenty of eyebrows before kick-off when he named four recognised central defenders in his starting eleven. Juan Foyth started as the right wing-back whereas Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez functioned as the three centre backs.

With the said system in place, Spurs were intent on sitting back and releasing Son Heung Min and Lucas Moura into the attacking channels. Though the said strategy worked on occasions, the lack of impetus disabled the away side from establishing themselves in the middle third.

For a major chunk of the game, Eric Dier and then Victor Wanyama cut isolated figures in midfield. The pair was swarmed over by City’s midfielders time and again and they had to resort to playing backwards and sideways.

Moreover, the lack of control in midfield reduced Cristian Eriksen and Dele Alli’s influence greatly.

In mid-week, Spurs threw City’s Champions League charge into disarray courtesy a brand of brave and attacking football.

Yet, when the Premier League rolled into town, the visitors were content to let the hosts make the play and it eventually backfired.

And the defeat to City has now left the door open for Arsenal to leapfrog Spurs into third come Sunday.

#4 Ederson rises to the occasion

Since the start of last season, Ederson and his style of goalkeeping has been a revelation in the Premier League. The Brazilian’s ability to double up as a sweeper keeper and a passing outlet has allowed Pep Guardiola to mould the City team to his liking.

However, Ederson didn’t enjoy the best of games against Spurs in the Champions League. While the Brazilian was held accountable for Son’s goal in the first leg, he was also perceived to have allowed the Korean to score a ‘soft’ net-bulger at the Etihad.

Thus, the onus was on him to set things right and boy, didn’t he do that on Saturday.

The home side enjoyed the lion’s share of possession yet left the back door open at times. One such occasion saw Cristian Eriksen burst through into the area. However, Ederson made himself big and thwarted the Dane’s attempt.

A few minutes later, the City keeper was on hand to deny Son after the ball fell kindly into the forward’s path.

At the start of the second half, Lucas controlled a long ball and proceeded towards goal. But, a combination of John Stones and Ederson ensured that City maintained their one-goal advantage.

Thus, the Brazilian had risen to the occasion when the situation demanded.

Over the past couple of seasons, Ederson has featured at the forefront of any discussion involving the best goalkeepers on the planet.

And on Saturday, he showcased why he deserves to be a part of that discussion every single time.

#3 Spurs rue their missed opportunities

Spurs entered the game against City at the Etihad high on confidence after their mid-week exploits. Thus, many expected them to carry their momentum and dent the Cityzens’ Premier League title challenge as well.

However, a combination of poor finishing and indecisive play in the offensive third handed the hosts all three points.

The visitors were deprived of possession for the majority of the game. The home side ended with 61% of the ball and consigned the visitors to feed off scraps. However, those scraps threw up a bunch of decent chances for Spurs. Yet, they couldn’t capitalise.

The first half saw Son and Eriksen miss gilt-edged opportunities with the former in particular, enduring a bad day at the office. On one occasion, the latter released the Korean expertly near the half-way line. But, the forward couldn’t sort out his feet to get a shot away at goal.

As for Eriksen, the Dane fired straight at Ederson when accorded the opportunity to shoot from the right side of the penalty box.

In the second period too, Lucas created space for himself after a clever touch. Yet, he couldn’t make the net bulge.

On Saturday, both Spurs and City displayed the after-effects of the Champions League epic on Wednesday. However, the latter ended up making the most of their openings while the former was left to rue what could’ve been.

And if Spurs eventually miss out on the top four, they would only have themselves to blame.

#2 Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden run the show

Guardiola handed a rest to David Silva for the crunch game against Spurs and opted for Phil Foden in midfield. Unsurprisingly, plenty of people were sceptical about the Spaniard’s choice. However, by the time the game ended, the City manager was vindicated in his decision.

The Englishman thrived on the big stage and displayed remarkable composure in the middle third. Many a time, the midfielder asked for the ball in tight areas and wriggled out of them adroitly. Moreover, he was willing to make the forward runs into the box and provide the Spurs defence with another headache.

Foden’s off the ball running led to the first goal when his run wasn’t picked up by any of the three central defenders. Unmarked in the box, the Englishman coolly headed past Paulo Gazzaniga.

Apart from the goal, the midfielder looked accomplished on the pitch and barely showed any nerves, despite starting only his second league game of the campaign.

However, on the day, he was outshone by his Portuguese teammate, Bernardo Silva.

The winger ran rings around Ben Davies for the entirety of the game and caused him all sorts of problems. The Portuguese drifted in-field at times while he hugged the touchline on other occasions. Thus, the Spurs defence couldn’t properly mark Bernardo throughout the game.

Additionally, the midfielder also played a major role in the winning goal. After receiving the ball on the right flank, he cut inside his marker and clipped a delicious ball to the far post. The cross was headed on by Aguero before being finished by Foden.

Through the course of the season, Bernardo has established himself as one of the first names on Pep’s team sheet. Moreover, he has been looked upon as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. And on Saturday, he just lent weight to that argument emphatically.

#1 The title is still City’s to lose

Manchester City still hold the aces in the title race

The game-week started with City trailing Liverpool by a couple of points, albeit having played a game less. Hence, the onus was on Guardiola’s charges to win on Saturday and amp up the pressure on the Merseysiders.

Though the hosts didn’t play the best game of their season, they certainly had enough in reserve to get across the line.

After going a goal up, the Cityzens controlled the tempo and didn’t allow Spurs to make any inroads. Moreover, the kept the pace of the game slow and disabled the visitors’ all-action style from coming to the fore.

Thus, highlighting that they had firmly put their mid-week disappointment behind them.

Before the game against Tottenham, City had two potential banana skins in their path. However, having negotiated past the first obstacle, the hosts would be fancying themselves to come up trumps against Manchester United on Wednesday.

With Liverpool and City having played 34 games each, the latter enjoys the upper hand courtesy a one-point lead at the perch.

Though there is a general consensus that Jurgen Klopp’s men are destined to lift the Premier League this term, the title, after the victory over Spurs, is still City’s to lose.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari