In the 88th minute, midfielder Kevin de Bruyne took a corner kick from the left straight towards the goal, where midfielder Ruben Dias stood close to goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario to compete for the ball. The Tottenham goalkeeper tried to punch out, but the impact from Dias caused the ball to fall right in front of the goal, allowing Ake to easily kick the ball into the empty net. Referee Paul Tierney recognized the goal for Man City, and VAR did not intervene. The home player reacted but could not change the referee’s decision, while Vicario also received a yellow card.
In the remaining minutes, Man City mainly extended time by bringing the ball closer to Tottenham’s corner area. At the last minute, hundreds of spectators of the away team turned their backs to the football field, linked arms and danced in the familiar poznan style. Because they were confident in victory for their home team.
After the final whistle, coach Pep Guardiola and the Man City reserve players entered the field and came to share the joy with the away team’s audience. The 54-year-old strategist was visibly happy, constantly hugging his students’ shoulders and cheering them on. When he met De Bruyne, he even kissed the midfielder on the cheek. Man City celebrated the victory as if they had just won the championship, because they ended a series of five matches without scoring and losing all at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Man City had to wait until their 101st shot on this field to score their first goal. As for the match on the evening of January 26, the away team scored 18 times, but wasted all opportunities, especially De Bruyne’s face-to-face shot in the 82nd minute. On the contrary, Tottenham played poorly, only shooting. exactly once with Brennan Johnson’s chance early in the second half.
Despite being far behind in the number of shots, Tottenham created a not bad position as they had many counter-attack situations, but the decisive passes were inaccurate. Coach Ange Postecoglou continues to be without captain striker Son Heung-min and midfielders Yves Bissouma and Pape Malang Sarr because they are busy playing for the national team or injured. The team’s attack power is therefore significantly reduced.
Man City also lacks Erling Haaland as he has not yet returned from injury, and De Bruyne is only on the field as a substitute. Young players like Oscar Bobb, Julian Alvarez or Phil Foden did not create many mutations in the first 60 minutes. Bobb put the ball into the net at the beginning of the match, but he was offside by a small distance.
As usual, Man City played much better after De Bruyne came on the field. Thanks to that, the defending champions increased their winning streak in all competitions to six matches. Their next opponent is Burnley in the Premier League on February 1.