WHAT AN AMAZING GAME, what a fascinating game it is.
Ange Postecoglu, the manager of Tottenham, deserves praise for his daring in coming here with his injury-ravaged squad and playing head-to-head with the team that finished first in the Treble.
2Dejan Kulusevski’s late equaliser rescued a point for TottenhamCredit: Reuters
Jack Grealish with a late goal for Man City to take the lead!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 3, 2023
Here’s how the team’s fared on paper
Spurs gave as good as they got from Man City
Furthermore, praise should be given to the magnificent Manchester City, who, during the first half of the game, displayed some outstanding football and had the opportunity to completely dominate the competition.
Ultimately, Jack Grealish believed that he had won the game when he scored his first goal since April in the 81st minute of the match.
In spite of this, Spurs did not give up, and in the final minute of normal time, Dejan Kulusevski surged into the City box to meet Brendan Johnson’s cross. He then headed the ball in off the underside of the bar to equalize the score.
What a contest that had been, especially considering that City had generally dominated it but had almost thrown it away.
A thrilling and breathless first half ensued, during which City had the opportunity to take a 6-1 lead.
The champions also struck the crossbar twice and watched goal machine Erling Haaland miss two sitters. Son Heung-Min scored at opposite ends of the field, Phil Foden finished off a fantastic pin-ball move to score City’s second goal, and City also hit the woodwork twice.
Despite the fact that he had to play two full-backs at center back due to injury, Postecoglu was not willing to sacrifice his ideals of attacking.
In certain moments, they brought to mind Rocky’s fight against Ivan Drago, in which he was being pummeled but continued to throw blows.However, Tottenham struck first with a fantastic goal scored on the break in the sixth minute. This was the first punch that they delivered.
In the beginning, it was a corner kick for City, and a few seconds later, it was in the City net.
From within the Tottenham defensive area, Bryan Gill executed a fantastic turn and delivery to set the move in motion, and once it was in motion, Tottenham was able to get off to a running start.
With Kulusevski playing the final ball to Son, who still had a lot to do with the fast Jeremy Doku who was in close attendance, or off and running with Kulusevski.
On the other hand, he was able to surge past him and fire a shot that went beneath Guglielmo Vicario’s dive.
Not only did Son get off to a great start, but within three minutes, he was scoring at the opposite end of the field when he accidentally kneed Bernardo’s free kick past his own goalie.
Tommy Hutchinson, a player for City, scored goals at both ends of the field during this match, but this time it was in the FA Cup Final in 1981. Those who are of a specific generation would recall something similar happening.
In the thirteenth minute, after Spurs were dispossessed while attempting to play out from the back, Bernardo attempted to square the ball for Haaland in front of a gaping goal. City went for the throat and should have been ahead of the game at that point.
It was widened by him. He does not ever spread it out.
Doku is a player who has the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat, and when he charged forward and took a shot, he hit the underside of the bar with the Spurs goalie beat.
When the clock reached 31 minutes, City took the lead with one of those deft one-touch movements that can break through even the most formidable defenses.
Doku, who had anticipated Julian Alvarez’s run, was the one who found Doku. When Doku sent a short square pass to Phil Foden, who was coming in, the England international tucked the ball away with his side foot.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was credited with making Spurs more solid from half time
This time, City presented Haaland with another opportunity, and he took advantage of it by shooting the ball over the bar.
In order to confirm that City was only 2-1 ahead at the interval, you had to double check the scoreboard. In order to prevent Bernardo from scoring inside the first thirty seconds of the restart, you would need to make a fantastic save from full stretch.
After that, Spurs went more rope-a-dope than all out swinging because they had a little bit more control of the ball. When City became careless, Spurs scored on the 69th minute.
The ball was given away by Alavarez, and Son was the one who received it. Son then rolled it into the path of Giovani Lo Celso, who then curled the ball home from twenty yards out off the far post.
Now was the time to pounce.
Guardiola’s team had been thrown back into the game, and as Yves Bissouma attempted to run the ball out of his half, Rodri took possession of him and then passed the ball to Haaland.
Gryphon Grealish was given the opportunity to turn in the square ball that was delivered by the Norwegian.
It was a feast, yet Spurs were still hungry, and they were rewarded for their efforts.At that time, there was controversy when Haaland was fouled but pulled himself up to play the ball through for Grealish, only for Anthony Taylor to whistle for a foul. This caused the situation to become even more contentious.
Goodness me, what a show.
2Pep Guardiola could not mastermind a win over Spurs againCredit: AFP
Julian Alvarez was popping up everywhere in the City attack