TOTTENHAM 1, MANCHESTER CITY 5
Manchester City handed another 5-1 thrashing out at White Hart Lane and returned to the top of the league in style with their eighth five goal (or greater) performance or greater.
Two seasons ago, a 5-1 victory at WHite Hart Lane set the scene for an eventful season which ended in dramatic fashion at the Etihad with a last minute winner scored by Sergio Aguero and the Barclays Premier League title finally ending up with City after 45 years.
Tonight at White Hart Lane, Spurs had an equaliser disallowed and were reduced to ten men when Danny Rose, who did touch the ball before bringing the Bosnian down, was adjudged to have pulled down Edin Dzeko and referee Andre Marriner awarded a penalty and sent the luckless defender off.
In between those incidents, Sergio Aguero limped off with what looked like another hamstring strain but Stevan Jovetic stepped up off the bench and showed some of the quality that City had been missing all season.
Before he limped off, Aguero had hit the woodwork and scored City’s opening goal on 14 minutes after sidefooting past Hugo Lloris from an acute angle and committing the Frenchman. It was his eighth goal either side of his last injury layoff from a superb David Silva through ball and he should arguably have put City out of sight well before half time with two further gilt-edged chances. A header from Gael Clichy’s cross was tipped away by Hugo Lloris five minutes later and he hit the stanchion behind the goal with a volley shortly after that.
City couldn’t capitalise on 25 minutes of utter dominance and Spurs sensed a chance to get at City’s defence.
Christian Eriksson’s free kick found Michael Dawson and saw the England defender sidefoot home off the underside of the bar but he and Emmanuel Adebayor, who flicked the cross on, were rightly adjudged to be offside.
Aguero pulled up with a hamstring strain while tracking Dawson just before half time. It was a massive blow for the in-form striker who had just returned from injury but his replacement, Stevan Jovetic, proved to be a more than able replacement.
The big turning point for City was the dismissal of Danny Rose at the start of the second half. The luckless Spurs man was sent off for pulling down Dzeko and Yaya Toure sent Lloris the wrong way.
City effectively won the game minutes later after Edin Dzeko scored his sixth goal against Spurs in as many games, tucking home the rebound after Silva had hit the woodwork.
Spurs pulled one back just before the hour mark after City’s defence switched off allowing Etienne Capoue to grant Spurs what would only be a consolation.
City instead raced away with the game with two late goals against the ten men of Spurs.
Jovetic’s first Barclays Premier League goal was a powerful shot that went in off Vlad Chiriches after Fernandinho drove upfield and laid the ball off for him with 12 minutes remaining and captain Vincent Kompany tucked in City’s fifth after Dzeko’s shot hit Nabil Bentaleb and the rebound fell for him six yards out at the end.