Tottenham Hotspur 2 Manchester City 2: match reportCity drop points again after throwing away two goal lead away at Spurs to widen the gap at the top
Manchester City drew 2-2 against Tottenham Hotspur in a game which included a frustrating second half performance which saw City lose a 2-goal lead and fail to make a recovery. An issue they have gone through multiple times this season where they are unable to get themselves back in front after being pegged back. Donnarumma started in goal. Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, and Ait Nouri were in defence. Rodri, O’Reilly and Bernardo were in midfield with Cherki, Semenyo, and Haaland in attack.
The first half was a dominant one for the Blues and it didn’t take them long to take the lead. In just the 11th minute, Haaland was charging towards goal and under pressure passed it to Cherki, who took a shot on the edge of the box which took a minor deflection and in to open the scoring.
The Blues seemingly had all the possession and chances during this period and almost had another just moments later when Guehi’s aerial ball found Haaland who was 1v1 with the goalkeeper, but his attempt was over the bar, as he tried to chip it over Vicario.
Eventually City had something to show by the end of the first half for their dominance with another goal, this time scored by Semenyo who was played in by Bernardo. With an easy shot straight into the net, the score was 2-0 on the edge of half time and the Blues were well and truly in control.
Unfortunately for City, the second half came to haunt them and they could not kill the game off. In the 52nd minute a ball played into Solanke put city in an awkward position. Guehi slid in attempting to get the ball away from the striker but misjudged the tackle and the ball came off him and into the net to give Tottenham one back. A VAR check for a foul on Guehi by Solanke took place as Solanke seemed to kick Guehi’s leg into the ball, but this was waived and the goal stood. Trouble for the Blues
Spurs stepped up their game and put City under all kinds of pressure. The second half was a complete switch of the first. In the 70th minute, Gallagher crossed the ball in and Solanke with a scorpion kick finish levelled it for the home side. Tottenham now had all the momentum and looked more likely to win. Simons took a shot which deflected off Bernardo and almost found its way in, but a great save from Donnarumma kept the scores level.
City themselves had chances to regain the lead. A free kick in from Bernardo looked to find Guehi but he couldn’t get his feet to it and another chance in the box found the head of Reijnders, but it was just wide. There was no way through for either side in the end to nick it and the game ended 2-2.
City are now six points behind Arsenal and one point ahead of Aston Villa in second. They have only won one game out of their last six in the Premier League and it doesn’t get any easier any time soon for them, with Liverpool away at Anfield awaiting the Blues next weekend, with Liverpool regaining form in recent matches. Next up for City is Newcastle at home midweek in the League Cup semi-final second leg.
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