Three league matches to go
Because of a hectic Easter, I didn’t
get to report on the City game, so here goes a quick evaluation and then on to
our match against Brighton.
After our fantastic win (that is
aggregate win) over City last week, we returned to City three days later.
Instead of going by coach (as I did
for the Champions league game) I went with Jeff by car. I drove to his house
and then from there to Manchester (if I knew how much parking there was at the
City ground I would have driven myself up there). All this meant a 4 am start.
I thought we would get a drudging in
this league match against City (because of Wednesday), instead we all came away
believing we should have at least got a draw, if not win. The good news was
that Arsenal, United and Chelsea all dropped points, thus keeping us in third
place (let us hope they drop more points for us).
Phil Foden's first Premier League goal
returned Manchester City to the top of the table as they overcame their
Champions League conquerors at Etihad Stadium. The 18-year-old's diving header,
created by Sergio Aguero, after only five minutes ensured the reigning
champions maintained the pressure on rivals Liverpool before their match at
Cardiff City on Sunday.
It was, however, a nervous performance in a game a far cry from the drama of Wednesday's European game here as City relied on goalkeeper Ederson to make several crucial saves. They also lost key midfielder Kevin de Bruyne to injury.
Foden gave City the perfect start but Ederson thwarted Son Heung-min on three occasions and saved well from Christian Eriksen and Lucas Moura. Son was also denied by a magnificent tackle by Aymeric Laporte.
Raheem Sterling had City's best chance after the break, only to be frustrated by the outstretched leg of Paulo Gazzaniga - in for injured Hugo Lloris - but Pep Guardiola's side held on to move a point clear of Liverpool with four games left.
Beyond that, there is nothing more to add. I got home at 9 pm.
A hectic Easter followed and then it
was suddenly over (was it worth it?).
Tuesday quickly arrived, and I left my
home at 12.30 to get to my destination for 2.30 pm (traffic problems on the M25
added a half-an-hour on). I then made my way by train to White Hart Lane (soon
to be called the “Tottenham Hotspur” station).
Met Martin before the match and talked
about our trip to Amsterdam (Ajax) and then he went to his entrance, and I went
to mine. Got through the security quite quickly and then I had to find one of
our representatives to get a programme (that is how it is done now, because of
waste and the backlash over not getting programmes previously).
Met up with the others, got myself a
large wine and something to eat and then sat and chatted about what we thought
the score would be (I said we would win 4-0; close, only three goals out though!).
Then we made our way to our seats.
Both sets of players came out to loud
cheers and applause, the preliminaries done, then all to their position, the
referee checked his watch, and we were off. Forty-five minutes of defensive
football from Brighton and the whistle finally went to put us out of our
mistery (or the players out of theirs) and to the lounge and drinks. Because of
the queues and running out of tea/ coffee, I ended up missing 5 minutes of the
second half (but to be fair I didn’t miss that much). Thirty-eight minutes of
duplicating the first half until Eriksen did his party piece.
Brighton came to defend and defend
they did. They almost got away with getting one point and would have if it
wasn’t for Eriksen’s stunning goal in the 88th minute. Yes,
Christian Eriksen's stunning late winner finally ended Brighton's resistance to
boost our hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League. Brighton were on
course to gain a point in their battle to avoid relegation before our most
effective attacking player, Eriksen, shot low into the corner from 25 yards in
the 88th minute.
Toby Alderweireld had earlier hit the
post while Lucas Moura and Dele Alli both had efforts cleared off the goalline.
Brighton, without a goal in seven matches, were restricted to counter attacks
and set pieces, with the impressive central defensive pairing of Lewis Dunk and
Shane Duffy both heading off target.
We are now three points ahead of
Chelsea and four clear of Arsenal in fifth.
Attack after attack we tried to break
down their defence, I don’t know why we didn’t shoot over the heads of the
Brighton defence to one of our players near the goal mouth. But ours is not to
reason why, just to watch, follow and pay our dues.
After giving the players a standing ovation,
we made our way to the lounge. Jeff had already gone home, which left Mel,
Terry, Beverley, Ian and myself to take in the comforts of Tottenham’s
hospitality. At 10.45 I made my way to the station with Mel and his friend and
caught the 11.08 train to my destination and finally got home at just after
one.
Next up will be West Ham United, and
they won’t come to defend, but they will hope of sneaking a win, that is why
we’ve got to be on our guard.
See you at our stadium on Saturday.
By Glenn Renshaw
Comments
Post a Comment