Haaland brace & Super Sub Ortega send City back to the summit against out-of-form Spurs

Wednesday 15 May 2024

English Premier League 2023/24

Matchday 37/38

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 782 High Rd, London N17 0BX

Haaland brace & Ortega heroics send City to top of the table against out-of-sorts Spurs

Erling Haaland & Stefan Ortega were the heroes as Man City moved one step closer to a historic 4peat of the PL title by winning their 2nd game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against an inconsistent and wasteful Tottenham Hotspur.

MATCH PREVIEW:

One of the most difficult away journeys for Manchester City, as it is the 2nd time this campaign they play Tottenham in North London, (3rd encounter overall). This time in the Premier League. This is City's chance to return to the top of the table since 13 April, to put themselves in pole position to record a historic 4peat. The visitors have won here, but in the FA Cup, this year, when Nathan Aké scored an 88th minute winner to send City into the round of 16, in January. But in the Premier League, it's a completely different story. They have never scored and never won here, since the stadium was built. The hosts are looking to boost their hopes of UCL football as on Monday night, Aston Villa held Liverpool to a 3-3 draw, and this gave Tottenham the chance to move two points behind the Villians and ultimately, help their North London rivals, Arsenal win the title on the final day. Man City have struggled against Tottenham in recent times, with their previous meeting, a controversial, yet thrilling 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium on matchday 16. But this game is the biggest one yet. Can City put themselves in pole position to win the league on Sunday & help Aston Villa gain UCL football, or will Tottenham help Arsenal by continuing the trend of winning at home against the reigning champions?

TEAM NEWS & FORM GUIDE:

The inconsistency of Tottenham has been quite a problem for Ange Postecoglou as his side make 3 changes from their narrow home win against Burnley. Radu Dragusin, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg & Rodrigo Bentancur replace Dejan Kulusevski, Oliver Skipp & Yves Bissouma. Son & Johnson are the two strikers up top with Micky Van De Ven at the very familiar left-back position. Formation: 4-3-1-2.

Starting XI: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Van De Ven, Bentancur, Højbjerg, Maddison, Sarr, Johnson & Son Heung-Mein.

Substitutes: Austin, Skipp, Gil, Emerson Royal, Lo Celso, Kulusevski, Scarlett, Moore & Hall

Form Guide: LLLLW

The strength and depth Guardiola's side have is just unbeliveable. With everyone fit, he makes 1 change from their comfortable away win at Fulham, with Kyle Walker back in the XI as captain, replacing Nathan Aké, who drops to the bench. It is also Ederson's 250th PL appearance for Man City. Ruben Dias celebrates his 27th birthday as he lines up along side Akanji in a back 4. Formation: 4-2-3-1.

Starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Foden, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Haaland.

Substitutes: Ortega, Stones, Aké, Grealish, Doku, Julián Álvarez, Matheus Nunes, Bobb, Lewis

Form Guide: WWWWW

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Son Heung-Mein: What a talented player. Arguably, Tottenham's best player this season in the absence of Harry Kane. Having netted a goal & an own goal in the reverse fixture, can he cause problems to the City defence yet again?

Erling Haaland: 4 goals against Wolves just a week and 3 days ago, and it's 5 goals in his previous 4 PL appearaces. With 26 goals, despite an injury-hit season, can he deliver on a huge night in North London?

Josko Gvardiol: Arguably, the surprise package this season? Despite a slow start in the first half of the season, and now surprise surprise. 5 goals in his last 7 appearances. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! A brace against Fulham in the last outing with City. 

Phil Foden: What an incredible player! The 2nd most goal contributions this season. A brace against Brighton away and a goal against Fulham. He scored twice in the reverse fixture at home, can he get on the scoresheet tonight?

KICK-OFF: FIRST HALF

Pape Sarr gets us underway, as Tottenham kick off the first half. This game always delivers on point, when it comes to crunch games at the back end of the season. Both teams, seeking their desires to win this game. Tottenham want European football and this will also put Arsenal in the driving seat for the title whilst Man City are looking for their 8th straight victory to make it a record of 34 games unbeaten since December 2023, and hope to win the league title on the final day of the league season. There were two chances, one for either side in this half, Bentancur's shot was tipped over the bar by Ederson & Foden's volley from Højbjerg's sliced miscue, but Vicario denied him. Fun fact: Tottenham Hotspur have been Manchester City's bogey team since Pep Guardiola was manager of the Blues. He has lost 6 times against the Lilywhites, the most by any manager. Can he break that winless run today? There wasn't much to cheer about for both sides, as wave after wave of attacks from both teams, resulted in no goals, but good defensive work, especially, Dragusin's brilliant headed clearance off the line to deny Bernardo Silva, after Haaland's shot was blocked by Van De Ven. HALF-TIME AT THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM. A goalless first half, which was music to the ears of Arsenal fans, who want their North London rivals to either draw or take points off the defending champions. Both sides had great chances, but the teams' defence taking control.

KICK-OFF: SECOND HALF

There wasn't much to enjoy in the first half, with both defences coming out on top, but now, Man City kick off the second half, looking for an opening. They almost carved the defence open, but Vicario does well to deny Kevin De Bruyne at the start of the second half, after good work from Akanji and Bernardo Silva to find the Belgian. And the breakthrough finally arrived for the visitors on 51 minutes. Bit of a half-hearted challenge from Romero as Foden makes a wonderful run behind the Tottenham defence, in goes the cross, and just goes behind De Bruyne, but picked up by Bernardo Silva, takes a couple of touches, LOVELY PASS ONTO DE BRUYNE, AND THERE'S HAALANDDDD!!!!! MANCHESTER CITY STRIKE THE FIRST BLOOD IN THIS CRUNCH FIXTURE. AND IT'S THE NORWEGIAN INTERNATIONAL, WHO POKES IN DE BRUYNE'S LOW CROSS INTO THE EMPTY NET AND CITY CELEBRATE!! 27TH PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL OF THIS SEASON FOR THE 23-YEAR-OLD!!

Haaland scored the game's opening goal from De Bruyne's cross.

A real pain in the back for the hosts. Can they carve out an equaliser having conceded? With subs lingering around and with the introduction of Dejan Kulusevski, Spurs had a great chance on 62 minutes. The corner worked finely between Maddison and Kulusevski, in goes the cross, AND THAT IS INCREDIBLY EXCELLENT GOALKEEPING FROM EDERSON!! WHAT A BRAVE DECISION THAT WAS, TO COME FOR THE BALL, BUT HE COLLIDES WITH CRISTIAN ROMERO, AS THE ARGENTINE'S THIGH HITS THE EYE OF THE 30-YEAR-OLD BRAZILIAN. WHAT A CHANCE FOR TOTTENHAM TO COME BACK LEVEL!! AND ALL OF THE CITY PLAYERS WANT A RED CARD TO BE SHOWN TO ROMERO FOR A DANGEROUS FOUL ON EDERSON. But referee, Chris Kavanagh is going to show a yellow card to the 26-year-old Argentine. How costly is that going to be for Tottenham?

Ederson collides with Romero whilst trying to collect the ball from Kulusevski's cross.

And then Pep decides for a very crucial substitution. Following advice from the doctor, Ederson comes off with deputy keeper Ortega replacing him, and Kevin De Bruyne comes off with his countryman compatriot, Doku, coming in to replace the 32-year-old. Foden moves to the CAM role with Doku on the left, Bernardo Silva on the right. And would you believe it? Ortega has only been on the field for a minute, and already has been called into action!! My goodness me. Early scare for the German. Nothing is working out right for Tottenham, as they tried a late double change with Oliver Skipp & Lo Celso, who scored in the 3-3 draw in December, in place of Pape Sarr & Højbjerg. But the biggest chance came on 86 minutes for the hosts. OH NO, WHAT'S AKANJI DOING, HE TRIES TO BACK PASS TO ORTEGA AND SON HEUNG-MEIN IS THROUGH ON GOAL CAPITALIZING ON A CRUCIAL DEFENSIVE ERROR, CAN HE GET THEM LEVEL?! OH MY WORD!!! WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE SAVE FROM STEFAN ORTEGA!!! REMINISCING EMILIANO MARTINEZ'S SAVE IN THE WORLD CUP. STICKS A LEG OUT TO DENY THE SPURS CAPTAIN, AND ONCE AGAIN, MANCHESTER CITY HAVE SURVIVED YET ANOTHER LATE SCARE!! COULD THIS SAVE, PUT CITY IN POLE POSITION AHEAD OF SUNDAY?! WHAT DRAMA IN NORTH LONDON!! EVERYONE THOUGHT SON HEUNG-MEIN WOULD TIE THE GAME FOR SPURS AND HELP ARSENAL, BUT ORTEGA HAD OTHER IDEAS!!

Stefan Ortega makes the game-changing save on 86 minutes to deny Son Heung-Mein.

AND AT THE OTHER END, DOKU, DRIBBLES INSIDE, PORRO CLIPS HIM DOWN. PENALTY TO MANCHESTER CITY!! LOVELY PLAY FROM THE 21-YEAR-OLD WINGER AS HE TEASES PORRO INTO MAKING THE WRONG DECISION AND CITY HAVE THE CHANCE TO SEAL THE GAME FROM THE SPOT. WE HAVE 10 MINUTES OF ADDED TIME FOR STOPPAGES!! ALL EYES REST ON ERLING HAALAND. FROM 12 YARDS, INTO THE 2ND MINUTE OF STOPPAGE TIME. CAN HE KEEP COOL?! OF COURSE HE CAN!! IT IS INEVITABLE!! MANCHESTER CITY HAVE SEALED THE VICTORY IN STOPPAGE TIME!! AND HAALAND HAS 38 GOALS FOR THIS SEASON IN ALL COMPETITIONS!! Absolute scenes here at the Tottenham Hostpur Stadium. And you can see clearly that the Poznan is out in the stands. Arsenal's title hopes have been hit! AND THAT IS THE FULL-TIME WHISTLE!! MANCHESTER CITY ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM A HISTORIC 4PEAT AS THEY BEAT TOTTENHAM IN NORTH LONDON FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN THEIR HISTORY AT THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM!! Haaland's opener on 51 minutes set the tone, and Ederson's collision with Romero meant that "SUPER SUB" Stefan Ortega was in place and made some incredible saves, the most crucial one of Son Heung-Mein on 86 minutes. Haaland eventually killed the game off for City as he delivered the knockout blow onto Arsenal. 

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Stefan Ortega Moreno

You can say that today was a great day for City, but two players stood out, but only one was the "MAJOR IMPACT OF THE GAME". This man, the former Armenia Bielefeld GK, was outstanding since his introduction in the 68th minute of the match. Changed the game completely and denied Tottenham no chance of a comeback. Mind you guys, he joined City on a free transfer following his team's relegation to the 2. Bundesliga from the top flight, and has been terrfic so far deputising for Ederson, whilst the Brazilian was on the sidelines, injured.