- Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan were on target as Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at the Wembley Stadium on Saturday, April 14
- The Citizens crashed out of the Champions League four days ago after losing 5-1 on aggregate to Liverpool, who will face Roma at the semi final stage of the competition later this month
- Meanwhile, they have opened 16 points gap over second place, Manchester United before their game against West Bromwich Albion on Sunday
Manchester City returned to winning ways in style as they pulled up an impressive performance at the Wembley Stadium to halt Tottenham Hotspurs’ four match winning run in all competitions.
Having crashed out of the UEFA Champions League competition at the quarterfinal stage last Wednesday, the Citizens stepped up their game to claim maximum points against Spurs, who are in the race to finish among the top four teams ahead of the current EPL champions, Chelsea.
However, goals from Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling ensured the Etihad Stadium outfit avoid their fourth straight defeat in all competitions.
City opened scoring in the 22nd minute in a one-on-one situation after benefiting from Vincent Kompany’s clearance moments before be buried the ball behind Hugo Lloris.
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Just before the goal came up, the visitors had tried Spurs keeper a couple of times but Lloris had no problem dusting Kevin De Bruyne’s effort just four minutes into the game.
As usual, City controlled the possession of the game as they claim 71% of the possession as early as the sixth minute – just like they had done in their defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool barely a week ago.
But this time, they seemed more careful at the back, but that didn’t stop the hosts too from making a statement in the game as Dele Alli tried a powerful shot from Erikson’s corner, but the effort was deflected 8th minute.
After just ten minutes of play, Spurs confidence had grown as they gave City a fight with ball possession, and by then, they had reduced the Citizen’s dominance in the game to 68%.
However, City continued their pressing game and soon they got a result to show for it as Spurs goalkeeper, Lloris tripped Raheem Sterling just at the edge of the box in the 24th minute.
And referee Jon Moss pointed straight to the spot for a penalty which Gundogan carefully buried to put his side two goals up after just 25 minutes of play.
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Despite going two down earlier in the game, Mauricio Pochettino’s men were not going to give up the fight that early as they were also in the search to reduce the deficit before the end of the first half.
Erik Lamela’s advances at Manchester City’s defence were not welcomed as the visitors defenders were on their toes to avoid surrendering their lead the same way they did in their last two games against United and Liverpool.
But, they couldn’t keep the clean sheet for long as Christian Eriksen finds the back of the net in the 42ndd minute after benefiting from a poor defensive play by Aymeric Laporte as his weak attempt to clear the ball puts his side under pressure.
Having scored their first goal of the game, the confidence of the home team grew as ball possession had risen to 42% for the hosts while the away team still maintain dominance but by a slim margin.
After three minutes of added time, the referee sounded the whistle to end the first half of the game with City leading by 2-1.
On return for the second half, Spurs came with a zeal to overturn the result in their favour, as they mounted pressure on their visitors, but all their efforts were unproductive in the early minutes of the second stanza.
Harry Kane was found offside in the 49th minute, while Eriksen was being troubled by Laporte, who didn’t give him all the chance to operate freely.
In the 52nd minute, Referee Jon Moss stopped the game for a moment after Dele Alli was knocked down and needed medical attention before the game resumed in the 54th minute.
Jesus found himself in another one-on-one situation like he did in the early minutes of the game, but this time, he wasted the chance to put City three goals up.
After the miss, both teams quickly introduced new players to their sides – as Erik Lamela made way for Heung-Min Son in a tactical substitution, while Nicolas Otamendi replaced Leroy Sane to beef up the defence line.
Both sides continued to put up impressive play to ensure the game swing in their favour, but it was City who got lucky.
Sterling converts the loose ball from Jesus’ powerful strike which Lloris earlier parried to ensure the Etihad Stadium outfit increase the scoreline to 3-1 after 72 minutes.
Pep Guardiola’s men would have made it four, but a timely clearance from Davinson Sanchez stopped Spurs from conceding their fourth of the night.
In response to City’s goal attempt, Dele Alli also tried one against the opponent’s goal post but his shot was deflected off target.
The game ended in the 95th minute with City emerging victorious on the night after enduring three straight defeat to Manchester United and Liverpool in the last seven days in all competitions.
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Source: Naija.ng