Match Report and Player Ratings: Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham (Premier League)
Manchester City suffered a fifth consecutive loss in all competitions after falling to a 0-4 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
A unsurprising defeat and cruel exchange with records at the full-time whistle was a return to action to forget for Pep Guardiola and his players in their latest outing against Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite a few shaky pieces of play, Manchester City appeared to be playing fluid football in the opening minutes of the contest. But it took Spurs only 10 minutes to destroy the illusion – exposing the reigning champions for all of their faults.
The Sky Blues created a few chances, mostly ending with Erling Haaland missing the mark. Phil Foden combined with Josko Gvardiol to steer past the Spurs’ defense a few times. While impressive in the attack, the Croatian would soon be punished for his defensive duties.
Dejan Kulusevski caught Gvardiol off the mark and escaped with the ball before curling it in with a splendid pass to find a pacing James Madison. The midfielder found space between John Stones and Kyle Walker and glided past the City defenders to send the ball past Ederson into the bottom left corner.
The visitors continued to build pressure on Guardiola’s men, with their relentless attacks paying off sooner than City expected. A misplaced pass from Gvardiol saw Madison pounce on the ball and roll it in Son Heung-min’s path before making a diagonal run inside the box.
The Spurs forward patiently waited for the ball before passing it back to Madison, who dinked it over the City keeper to give his side a 0-2 lead. The hosts created a handful of chances in the rest of the half but failed to bring any of those to fruition. Ederson, on the other hand, was thoroughly tested, as City’s defense repeatedly fell apart with Ilkay Gundogan and Rico Lewis’ midfield pairing.
Things were hardly different when both sides returned for the second half, with the visiting side quickly adding a third goal to their tally. Kullusevski once again found his way past City’s defense, this time beating three players with some help from Son. He then found Dominic Solanke inside the box with a long pass, and the latter cut it back for Pedro Porro to fire past Ederson.
Kevin De Bruyne’s introduction at a little over the hour’s mark sparked a relentless wave of attacks from the Sky Blues. The City forwards forced Guglielmo Vicario to make multiple crucial saves within a small window, but the Spurs goalkeeper stood his ground, withstanding all pressure.
The Belgian was also booked afterward for his heated exchange with Ismaïla Sarra after accidentally kicking the Spurs winger inside the box. Like the previous goals, Man City was punished with a sudden counterattack in the final moments. Timo Werner glided past Walker to find a myriad of space and rolled the ball into the path of Brennan Johnson, who netted a fourth goal for the Ange Postecoglou-led side.
This marked the first time Guardiola suffered a fifth consecutive defeat in his managerial career. The Catalan has a considerable task ahead of him as City fall five points behind table-leader Liverpool ahead of their Premier League clash this weekend.
The final whistle soon went off, leaving the reigning champions to dwell over the humiliating defeat that unceremoniously ended their two-year unbeaten run at the Etihad Stadium.
Here’s how we believe the Manchester City players fared in their clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening, as attentions will immediately turn to a UEFA Champions League meeting against Feyenoord on Tuesday night.
Player Ratings
Starting XI
Ederson – 6
Conceded goals that were as typical as they come, made crucial saves, and, at times, appeared as the only saving grace at the back
Kyle Walker – 5
Spun around, outpaced and outmatched, but managed to keep Son from posing more threat
John Stones – 5
Made crucial interceptions at the back but should have done better in the first two goals
Manuel Akanji – 5
Unable to cope with the intensity of Spurs’ relentless attacks, was caught off-guard on a few occasions
Josko Gvardiol – 4
Was outplayed by Dejan Kulusevski, who grew increasingly comfortable attacking down the right side as the game progressed, two mistakes directly leading to goals
Bernardo Silva – 5
Inexplicable work rate, and yet, nothing to show for the same, ran back and forth but made no significant difference to attack or defense
Ilkay Gundogan – 4
Struggled in his pairing with Lewis, was poor in his forward passes, and barely offered help top the defensive line-up
Rico Lewis – 4
Highly nervous in the defensive midfield role, ended up being a liability for the defensive line-up
Savinho – 5
Made impressive runs moving forward but made poor choices with his final play
Phil Foden – 5
Tried creating multiple chances and commanded the attacks from the midfield but failed to pierce through the Spurs’ defense as often as he would have liked
Erlin Haaland – 4
Missed several of his chances, far from his goal-scoring form lately
Substitutes
Nathan Ake – 5
Replaced Stones and found himself overwhelmed by Solanke, should have done better for the third goal
Kevin De Bruyne – 6
Ignited a fire in City’s attack despite the limited presence, created chances to spark a new hope amidst his side but to no avail
Jack Grealish – 4
Received the ball, made his runs, tricked the defenders, and nothing came of it
