Bullied at White Hart Lane, Pep Guardiola suffered his first defeat in the Premier League with his Manchester City side losing 2-0 to Tottenham, and it was a scoreline that flattered City if anything.
Guardiola’s first defeat in both the English and Spanish top divisions have now come against Mauricio Pochettino ironically, even before kick-off you could sense it was coming today. City fielded the weakest team they have all year since the second-leg against Bucharest and Spurs’ squad made them pay.
The home side opened the scoreline just moments into the game when Aleksandar Kolarov turned a Danny Rose cross into his own goal. Spurs’ pressing play was intense, and it overwhelmed City throughout the first half. Like vultures, Spurs pounced on City’s defensive failings and a Heung-Min Son threaded pass cleverly found its way to Dele Alli who coolly slotted home for 2-0.
Changes were made in the second-half for City, Guardiola once again showing his distaste in carrying players like Fernando and Jesus Navas, and rightly so. The Sky Blues improved a little after the break, but simple passes were still going astray, and Spurs were winning every second ball. Claudio Bravo denied an Erik Lamela penalty making it 3-0 and despite City finally showing some sustained pressure late into the game, the best defence in the league could not be unlocked.
It felt more Manuel Pellegrini than Pep Guardiola today, but the Catalan made mistakes and here’s how I rated his team today…
