MAN CITY 4, TOTTENHAM 2
In likening this to a boxing bout, Manchester City lifted themselves off the canvas to land a knockout blow following an epic encounter against Tottenham at the Etihad only for manager Pep Guardiola to later launch a ferocious attack on his team.
Two goals down at the break, City needed to show character and resilience in the face of adversity to end their recent dip in form which had seen them lose two and draw one of their previous five games.
They hit back with a devastating four-goal second-half display to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to five games, though the Gunners have played one goal less.
It was only the second time in 55 Premier League games on which City had won a game in which they have been two or more goals down at half time.
Two goals from player-of-the-match Riyad Mahrez and one apiece from Julian Alvarez and goal machine Erling Haaland for a victory which could prove pivotal in the title race.
It was also a loss which dented fifth-placed Spurs’ hopes of a top-four finish as the frailty of their defence was again exposed.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile Guardiola described himself as “incredibly happy”, he also critical of his players questioning their ‘passion and guts’.
“We were lucky today. I didn’t expect us to come back at half time against a team like Spurs,” he said.
“We have to prepare better. I cannot deny how happy we are but we are far away from the team that we were. Not in terms of play, we played good, but there are many things like competitiveness.
“We gave them the first goal, and then the second goal is ridiculous. There’s nothing from the stomach, from the guts. We were lucky but if we don’t change we will drop points.”
Asked what was missing?, Guardiola replied: “Passion, fire and desire to want to win from the first minute. Our fans were silent for 45 minutes.”
“They booed because we were losing but in the second half we played good, we had more chances. Maybe it’s the same with our team, maybe we are so comfortable with winning four Premier Leagues in five years.
“People say we have not won the Champions League which is b*****. We have won a lot, back-to-back titles twice.
“We have to look at ourselves, it is not enough. I am not complaining but we can do better.”
Spurs’ manager Antonio Conte thought his side player better in defeat than last season when they won 3-2 at the Etihad.
“We played with personality and created a lot of problems for Manchester City. We were brave and pressed high and scored doing this,” he said.
“Last year long periods were played in our box, and we were a bit lucky.”
Conte pointed to a key moment in the game when Ivan Perisic hit the upright when the game was 2-2.
“If we had gone 3-2 up, the game would have changed totally from a mental aspect,” he continued.
Guardiola made five changes to the side that began the 2-1 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
In came Rico Lewis, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Jack Grealish and Alvaraez with Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden dropping to the bench.
There were four changes for Spurs after their own derby defeat, losing 2-0 at home to Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday.
There were starts for Emerson Royal, Ivan Perisic, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ben Davies with Clement Lenglet, Ryan Sessegnon, Pape Matar Sarr and Matt Doherty making way.
After an uneventful opening, the match exploded to life in the final nine minutes of the first half.
Son Heung-min’s header from Ben Davies’ cross forced a diving save from Ederson.
It was Hugo Lloris’ turn as he did well to keep out a deflected shot from Rico Lewis low to his left.
Haaland, in a mini drought of three games by his high standards, then had two chances in quick succession as he was denied by Lloris’ block before beating the keeper to a cross but heading over.
Disaster struck for City when they conceded two goals at the end of the half after awful defending.
Ederson was at fault for Spurs’ 45th minute opener playing out from the back with a terrible pass to Manuel Akanji. The ball bounced off the centre back to Dejan Kulusevski who fired into the empty net.
And it got worse when for City when Spurs doubled their advantage in the second of two and two minutes and eight seconds after their opener in the second of two added minutes.
Harry Kane wriggled past Rodri to the by-line and drove over a low cross which Ederson beat out for Royal to head into the empty net before City left the field to the sound of some boos.
City needed a positive start to the second period, and they got that as they were level within eight minutes.
They halved the deficit in the 51st minute through Alvarez. Mahrez’s cross saw Lloris block at the feet of Grealish with the Argentine, following up, firing home his ninth goal of the season.
And two minutes and nine seconds later, City were level through Haaland. Mahrez flicked on a long ball for the Norwegian to send a header looping over Lloris.
It was his 22nd Premier League goal of the season and 28th overall as he also broke the record for the fastest player to score 15 home league goals, achieved in only 10 games.
Spurs almost regained the lead on the hour when Perisic’s far-post shot from Kulusevski’s low cross deflected off Lewis on to the upright.
City completed a remarkable turn around in their fortunes with their third goal in 12 minutes as they went ahead in the 63rd minute with a fabulous solo effort from Mahrez who ran from deep and fired an low angled shot past Lloris who was beaten at the near post.
Spurs made four changes before City’s first with 10 minutes left when Gundogan was replaced by Bernardo Silva. A second quickly followed, Walker for the teenage Lewis.
With Spurs committed to all-out attack, they were caught cold in the 90th minute.
Substitute Clement Lenglet failed to cut out a long clearance from Ederson as Mahrez ran through to net his second and clinching fourth for City.
It was Mahrez’ 10th of the season and his seventh against Spurs which, along with four assists, is his most goal involvements against any club.
Ruben Dias replaced Haaland in the four minutes of stoppage time, a defender for the hotshot as City were determined to batten down the hatches with game management the key.