Match report: City 2 Spurs 3 (up, up… or the same old, same old!)

Match report: City 2 Spurs 3 (up, up… or the same old, same old!)

I rate this game with our games against City in the Champions league (we lost but went through), Leicester City, Ajax… and a few others, as brilliant ending games.  

I predicted a draw in my blog, only because I chickened out and annoyingly listened to others… but I said we would win this game in my Whatsapp Group. Granted, not by that result, but I predicted the outcome, nevertheless.

Why? We've got a habit of going out against the lower teams and then facing the likes of City and beating them. This means, watch out Spurs, next up Burnley… I hope I am wrong and that this is a new dawn and that we will beat them and beat them convincingly.

Anyway, a great result, which means we've done the double over them. Of course, this doesn't mean we are back in contention to get into the top four; we need a few more good wins under our belt, including against the likes of those that seem to come from nowhere and ended up humiliating us.

Mel and I travelled up to City on Saturday morning, booked into our hotel (Hotel Football, next to Old Trafford). Then went into the restaurant, had drinks and food and met up with Ian and Terry. We then made our way to the ground and met up with others.

For the match, the atmosphere was good, our fans seemed to be in fine voice, even though everybody thought we would be thrashed. Finally, the whistle went.

I noticed that there were many empty seats, so we moved so that we could sit and watch the game, rather than being forced to stand all the time.

When City equalised, I thought it was all over, and the best we could hope for was a draw, then Harry Kane's stoppage-time goal came. I jumped up and towards the stairs; simultaneously, everybody jumped on me, and I went flying downwards and landed on some kid. Luckily nobody was injured.

As I said, City thought they had rescued a point moments earlier when Riyad Mahrez converted a penalty awarded after a VAR review, but their hopes were dashed when Kane scored; all in injury time. Reminiscent of the Leicester game when we came back in the same fashion.

Dejan Kulusevski's cross in the 95th minute that sparked wild celebrations from our fans and misery from theirs. It was a studied end to an energetic match.

We go ahead after the whistle

Our first goal came after only four minutes, with Son beating the offside trap and squaring the ball for Kulusevski to score on his first start for the club. City then levelled when Hugo Lloris dropped Raheem Sterling's cross, and Ilkay Gundogan pounced to turn in the ball.

My thoughts

We were on form and threatened every opportunity we got on the break. Kane was denied again by Ederson and then had another strike ruled out for offside, but we thought that City would have the last laugh when they were awarded a spot-kick at the end of the 90 minutes. Referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot for a handball by Cristian Romero after a VAR review, and it seemed Mahrez had salvaged a point. Our heads sunk. It wasn't going to be a fairy tale ending…

I must say, I thought Kane had a brilliant game and finally came out of his golden slumber… his passing was spot on… he has been below his best for much of the season. Still, his presentation here was a reminder of why Pep Guardiola wanted to sign him at the start of the season.

Kane got the goals and was the team's leading player, constantly dropping deep to collect the ball and finding willing runners ahead of him.

I did think that Kane should have been sold; however, it wasn't to be and maybe we should give Levy credit for keeping him.

When the final whistle went, our fans went berserk, singing "Harry Kane, he's one of our own" as he and the others celebrated a famous victory in front of our travelling supporters.

We had previously lost our three league games and slid down the table, but does this win reignites our bid for a top-four finish?

This was Manchester City's first league defeat since October when they lost at home to Crystal Palace, but, to be fair, they did not play badly against us. Guardiola gambled by playing a high line against a man known for arranging quick breakaways, and, this time, he lost. I will put this down to a masterclass from Antonio Conte's tactical and training methods.

After the game, we met up with others – in the stadium – and had a group hug and celebrated with everybody else…. Then we made our way out of the stadium and started walking until we found a taxi. Went to an excellent restaurant in Manchester and had a three-course meal with plenty of wine. Afterwards, more drinks at our hotel, then at 2pm to our rooms where I phoned Janette. We left early in the morning.

But that match is over with, and now we move on to face Burnley and then Leeds, both away.  

 COYS!

All the best, Glenn