Match Report: Manchester City & Previews of AS Roma & Fulham.

 

Match Report: Manchester City & Previews of AS Roma & Fulham.

What a week it was last week: Janette and I went on a well-earned two-day holiday break to the City of York, followed by a rainy trip to Manchester to see City. a game everybody thought would be our annihilation, more so after our capitulation to Ipswich two weeks earlier.

We left Newbury on Thursday to go to York (a four-hour drive). The first day was spent drinking, eating, and walking around the town (our hotel was central to most everywhere). The second day was spent sightseeing (especially York Minster—including a guided tour) and walking around the town more. We had dinner at a luxury, expensive restaurant, followed by cocktails/ shorts in a bar near the hotel.

Saturday, we booked out early from the hotel and made the two-hour journey to Manchester in terrible weather.

Because we were going to be early, we mainly did 50 miles an hour (which was probably sensible considering the weather), arriving at the ground’s car park by 1 pm (we got in for free as they hadn’t set up the payment machine yet). It was pissing down and very windy… we did manage to find a pub to have a drink and then back to the car… we waited until it stopped raining, then dashed to the away end at the other side of the stadium.

We talked to Liza and the other Spurs security guards outside the stadium and then went in. Once in, we met up with our friends Colin, Stef, Terry, Ian, and Janet. Mel made his own way to the stadium because we’d come from York.

Before the match, we discussed the possibilities for how the game might end. But once the game started, at least for the first five minutes, we thought we were going to get hammered, then it all changed on a sixpence.

James Maddison scored after 13 minutes, and we were ecstatic. Then, we waited for their goals in retaliation for daring to put one in their net because they were Premier League champions. Instead, seven minutes later, Maddison scored again. Incredulous, what next? Them going up another gear? We were apprehensive, biting our fingernails in the process!

Amazingly, we were two up by halftime. We feared the second half was going to be another Brighton, where we out-dazzled in the first half but capitulated in the second. However, our suspected second-half reversal didn’t stop us from taunting the home crowd. We thought we might as well enjoy it while we could.

Seven minutes into the second half, Pedro Porro drove home a third before Brennan Johnson added a last-minute fourth on an incredible night that saw the end of City's 52-match unbeaten record at Etihad Stadium, stretching back to just before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

To say we were ecstatic and shell-shocked would be an understatement. After our last defeat at home – before the international break – we and the entire footballing community expected City to annihilate us because of Tottenham’s inconsistent form.

It ended up being City's worst home defeat since a 5-1 loss to Arsenic and Old Lace in 2003.

To add insult to injury It was also the first time City have lost three successive Premier League games under Pep Guardiola, who just signed a two-year contract extension. What a shit present for him! Guardiola had never previously lost a home game by four goals in his managerial career; it all happened because of Tottenham’s meanness to the better half of Manchester.

Tottenham romped to victory over a Manchester City side that has now lost five games (including the League Cup to us) in a row for the first time since 2006.

We fans lapped it up, cheekily singing "You'll be sacked in the morning" at Guardiola as we celebrated Porro's goal. By then, the City supporters were leaving the stadium, which gave us more reason to continue singing. This time, we sang, “Is there a fire drill?” Janette was in her element.

Thoughts…

It was an amazing transformation of the team. We had travelled north without both first-choice central defenders. We had five teenagers on the bench and had lost our last game 2-1 at home to Ipswich a fortnight ago.

Fair dinkum, as the Aussies say, Ange Postecoglou's team made light of our problems in a way City could not. It was their heaviest home defeat since a 5-2 reverse to Leicester in September 2020, when Maddison was among the scorers for the Foxes.

City remain in second, but Liverpool stretched their lead at the top to eight points the next day when they beat Southampton. We moved up to sixth, four points behind City. Below City are Chelski and Arsenic Poisoning, who are three points above us.

Yes, it was a historic night for us Tottenham supporters.

The huge pre-match embrace between Guardiola and Postecoglou had both men beaming at each other. I wonder what they whispered as they clinched? Maybe something like this: -

Pep: I am going to kick your arse!

Ange: Fuck you… I may be smiling now… but I am going to squeeze your balls, Australian style, which will wipe that smile off…

Or something like that… Ange still smiled at the end, while Pep looked dejected and ate humble pie.

The question remains: how a side can go from being beaten at home by struggling relegation fodder Ipswich to then go on and inflict a shattering blow to the four-time champions on their own patch is open to question, but this game will go down in our folklore. Nevertheless, we’ve been too inconsistent; we played well against top teams but got humiliated by Palace, Ipswich, Brighton, and Galatasaray. Do we/ did we take them for granted, thinking that they are such crap teams that we don’t have to turn up, or is it down to Ange’s tactics or even substitutions, or lack of them? That is the question being asked. Whatever the answers are, we need to sort it out… this lack of consistency is why we are called “Spursy”. We need to eradicate the word and our inconsistency; and the only way we will do that is to be more focused and determined against smaller fry. We do have the talent, and when in form, we are magic on the pitch.

A couple of match Previews

Spurs v AS Roma…

I am presuming we will field a totally different team than we played against City; nevertheless, I expect us to beat Roma.

On this day forty years ago… we beat Bohemians Prague at White Hart Lane in 1984, 2-0.

My prediction is 4-1 to us.

As for Fulham…

Fulham worries me. They are one point behind us and have a record similar to ours. Has our game against City changed our mindset? Will we continue where we left off against the Blues? Or will we return to being “Spursy” and suffer another humiliation?

Prediction…

I shall be optimistic and say that we shall beat the Cottagers by 3 goals to one.

I am not going to mention what happened on this day (1^st December 1990…)—thirty-four years ago, but I remember it well…

…OK, maybe just mention it a little… our team coach was towed away from outside the team’s hotel, and because of that, we were late for our game against the Russian puppies, Chelski. The club then was fined for being late…

Even though Lineker and Gazza scored on that day, we still lost 3-2. I hope nothing like that happens against Fulham… i.e., losing… well, we are at home, so there is no chance of a bus or anything else being towed away… unless… no, forget it… think positive!!!!

Let us hope our fortunes have changed, and it all started at the City ground. Amen!!

Up the Spurs!

Glenn

Me with Janette & Janet at the City game