With the Premier League back upon us, City and Spurs served up lunchtime treat at the Etihad. The Blues prevailed 4-1 winners in an enthralling contest; with lethal hitman Sergio Aguero remarkably bagging all four of City’s goals. The Argentine also missed a first-half penalty; a feat which was repeated by opposition striker Roberto Soldado in the second half.
Pellegrini’s men trounced Tottenham on two occasions last season, but though the scoreline looks good on City’s part, by no means was it a bad display by the visitors.
The game began extremely openly as both sides found space to get the ball down and play. Silva and Aguero combined well in the early stages, in particular one occasion where Silva should have been more selfish. Ryan Mason had a great chance to put the away side ahead after finding himself one-on-one with Joe Hart; yet England’s number one produced a great stop with his left leg.
Pablo Zabaleta was rested on this occasion, and his compatriot Sagna – in place of the Argentine, had a hand in the opening goal. After Sagna stole possession in the opposition half, Frank Lampard jinked into space before slipping in Aguero, who finished with complete aplomb. This was no ordinary goal; for Kun had astoundingly only needed a solitary touch to work an opening and find the bottom corner.
All looked rosy, but not for long. Visiting boss Pochettino is quite an advocate of tireless pressing off the ball and this was a clear factor in Spurs’ equaliser. Soldado robbed the ball off Fernando, and set Eriksen away; the Dane levelling matters with a powerfully struck effort which hit the underside of the bar on its way in.
The home side made a sharp response, as Lampard won his side a penalty just five minutes after Eriksen’s equaliser. The man in the middle John Moss quickly pointed to the spot after Lampard had been impeded; Aguero duly converted, sending Lloris the wrong way to score his 59th Premier League goal for the Blues; making him City’s all-time top scorer in the top tier. City’s main marksmen had more chances to increase his tally; the best of which arrived close to the hour mark. Silva was bundled over in the box, giving Aguero the perfect chance to give City a bit of breathing space. However, on this instance Aguero failed to dispatch, as Lloris saved the spot-kick and saw the rebound lashed over by the striker.
Before the break, Lampard was unfortunately stretchered off with what looked quite a serious injury from the stands. Fernandinho replaced the midfielder in a spell where Spurs were on the up, with Ryan Mason drawing another impressive save from Hart. His opposite number Lloris also looked alert whenever City attacked; making two good saves to deny both Navas and Milner.
It had been a wonderfully exciting half of football at an extremely high tempo, which suited City who did look threatening when Milner, Silva and Navas linked up.
The second period promised more of the same and duly delivered. Aguero continued his search for goals but was thwarted by Lloris yet again a matter of minutes after the restart. Constant attacking action kept fans off their seats; most City supporters were on the verge of cheering when Silva’s cross-cum-shot required just a touch to extend the lead, but the ball evaded the onrushing Aguero.
Then came the third penalty of the afternoon. Soldado got on the wrong side of Demichelis, who was adjudged to have brought down the Spaniard inside the box. The former Valencia hitman placed the ball on the spot and sought after bringing Spurs back on level terms for the second time, but this wasn’t the case. Hart guessed right and conjured up an outstanding one-hand save to preserve the lead. The Englishman was at it again moments later, this time reacting unbelievably with his trailing leg to deny Soldado again. Those two aforementioned saves proved pivotal, as with just over 20 minutes remaining; a fourth penalty was awarded. John Moss deemed Fazio’s offence on Aguero worthy of a red-card and this time Kun dispatched confidently.
He wasn’t done there though, rubbing salt in the wounds with a left-footed effort into the far corner of Lloris’ goal. Milner almost grabbed a well-merited goal late on, but saw his curling strike cannon off the post.
Frighteningly, the Blues were not at their very best but still hit four goals and should have had many more. Attentions now turn to Tuesday’s trip to Moscow in the Champions League.
