David Silva’s unexplained absence made little difference as rampant City ripped Spurs apart to go 14 points clear
Our chief football correspondent Daniel Taylor was at the Etihad to watch Manchester City tear Tottenham Hotspur apart with worrying ease. Here’s Daniel’s on-the-whistle report on a night City surged 14 points clear of the chasing posse. In mid-December.
“Today was a special performance from all the team,” he tells BT Sport. “I am happy to be on the scoresheet but it was an incredible performance from all the team ... we could have scored a lot more goals.”
On his goal: “It was free header, so I was a bit lucky I suppose,” he says. “Obviously the Spurs players didn’t know how good I am with my head.” [Laughs]
Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne got one each, while Raheem Sterling bagged two (and missed several sitters) as Manchester City hammered Spurs to go 14 points clear at the Premier League summit. It could have been a lot worse for outclassed Spurs, who bagged a late, late consolation but will go home knowing they could have finished the game with nine men, and that they could have lost by eight or nine if the victors had converted more of their chances.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 18 | 44 | 52 |
| 2 | Man Utd | 17 | 26 | 38 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 18 | 18 | 38 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 18 | 11 | 33 |
| 5 | Burnley | 18 | 4 | 32 |
Tottenham are in seventh, seeing as you’re asking.
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over and Manchester City have swatted Tottenham Hotspur aside win their 16th consecutive Premier League match and go 14 points clear. Spurs had no answers there and will consider themselves lucky to get away from the Etihad tonight having lost by only three goals.
Christian Eriksen sends a low daisy-cutter into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area and doesn’t even bother celebrating.
90+2 min: Spurs have got a hiding here tonight, but in trutyh the scorelines could have been a lot worse from their point of view. They can probably count themselves lucky to escape the Etihad with ... oh, hold on.
Raheem Sterling practically walks the ball into the back of the Tottenham net after an Eric Dier mistake allows him to nutmeg Lloris and prod into an empty goal from six yards.
89 min: Tottenham substitution: Danny Rose off, Ben Davies on.
88 min: Phil Foden gives the ball away halfway inside the Tottenham half, allowing Spurs to break on the counter. Not for long, mind – within seconds, Raheem Sterling is receiving a pass from Kevin De Bruyne and aiming for the top corner with a left-footed curler. Lloris saves and City have a corner.
86 min: Bernardo Silva stretches to catch a bouncing ball and forces Hugo Lloris to save at the near post and concede a corner. Nothing comes of it.
85 min: Tottenham substitution: Dele Alli off, Moussa Sissoko on. Manchester City substitution: Leroy Sane off, after an excellent performance. Bernardo Silva on.
84 min: Manchester City substitution: Phil Foden on, Ilkay Gundogan off. The 17-year-old gets another chance to impress on City’s first team.
82 min: That was wonderful goal from City, a series of weighted passes serving to carve open Tottenham’s defence like a Christmas turkey. Sterling simply couldn’t miss after being unselfishly teed up by Sane.
Game, set and match. De Bruyne to Gundogan, who plays Sane in behind the Spurs defence. He crosses for Sterling, who slides in to poke the ball home at the far post from about three yards out.
80 min: Back to the Manchester City penalty, which was as clear-cut a spot-kick award as you’ll ever see ... hold on.
78 min: Lamela pulls the ball back to Harry Winks on the penalty spot, but a heavy touch prevents the midfielder getting a shot off. He stayed on his feet there under a challenge from Mangala when he’d almost certainly have got a penalty if he’d gone to ground.
76 min: Gabriel Jesus hits the foot of the left upright with his penalty kick and Raheem Sterling blazes over the bar with his follow-up. The goal was gaping. Spurs substitution: Erik Lamela on for Heung-min Son.
74 min: Jan Vertonghen trips Kevin De Bruyne in the Tottenham penalty area and Craig Pawson points to the spot.
72 min: Two minutes ago, De Bruyne was writhing around on the ground in agony after being fouled by Dele Alli, now he’s celebrating another fine goal to add to his show-reel. A mistake by Harry Kane at one end allowed Manchester City to break in numbers. Leroy Sane sent De Bruyne on his way down the inside left and despite having options to his right, he elected instead to send a left-footed surface to air screamer past Lloris, who might have got a touch on the ball but was powerless to keep it out.
Wow! A great goal from Kevin De Bruyne, who finishes a City counter-attack by lashing the ball past Lloris into the roof of the net from a narrow ankle.
68 min: Dele Alli is booked for a stamp on Kevin De Bruyne’s ankle. Looking at replays, I would say the Spurs midfielder is very, very lucky to escape a sending-off there. On the touchline, Pep Guardiola is furious.
67 min: Sane drives across the front of the Spurs penalty area, gliding past Trippier and unleashing a shot. Hugo Lloris keeps it out with a strong left hand, before Raheem Sterling blazes over when scoring looked easier. It wouldn’t have counted if Sterling had scored - the flag was up.
66 min: Danny Rose is penalised for hauling Kyle Walker to the ground, then spits his dummy at the injustice of it all. Replays show it was a fair cop.
65 min: Son tries his luck from distance. Wide.
63 min: Kevin De Bruyne pulls a low- diagonal shot wide of the far upright. From the goal-kick, Spurs get themselves in an awful mix-up trying to play the ball out from the back and Jan Vertonghen is eventually forced to boot the ball into the stand before it all goes completely pear-shaped.
62 min: Mousa Dembele gets booked for persistent fouling. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is on Fernandinho. During the break in play, Gabriel Jesus adjourns to the sideline to change his boots.
59 min: With the ball at his feet in the Manchester City penalty area, Ederson picks out Sterling on the right touchline with an inch-perfect 65-yard pass. Unbelievable.
57 min: Manchester City substitution: Sergio Aguero off, Gabriel Jesus on. On his way back to the dug-out, Sergio Aguero pulled off his gloves and threw them on the pitch, leaving Eric Dier to pick them up and throw them to the sideline. Here’s hoping Aguero’s hands don’t get too cold on that 15 yard walk to the bench. Gloves.
56 min: Otamendi clears the ensuing corner with a powerful header.
55 min: Ederson is forced to bat a Harry Kane shot from distance around the post for a corner.
54 min: Spurs continue to dominate this second half, trying their damnedest not to give City’s players much time on the ball. They still haven’t looked like scoring, mind.
52 min: From the free-kick, the ball’s pinged into the penalty area by Christian Eriksen and Ederson clears with a fist. In the ensuing scramble for the lose ball, Harry Kane is booked for a studs up lunger on Raheem Sterling.
51 min: Delph fouls Trippier and gets a yellow card for his troubles. Spurs have a free-kick in the space between the touchline and the right side of the Manchester City penalty area.
50 min: Christian Eriksen sends Tottenham off on a counter-attack, which breaks down when Harry Kane overhits a pass to Son. Spurs are doing well in the early stages of this second half, but their final ball is letting them down.
48 min: Good defending from Leroy Sane, who gets back to get in front of Son to prevent the Tottenham winger from getting on the end of a Harry Kane cross to the far post.
47 min: Sergio Aguero wins a corner for Spurs off Harry Winks. The ball’s floated into the area, but Eliaquim Mangala’s header goes straight up in the air and Tottenham clear.
47 min: Danny Rose tries to get forward down the inside left, but loses his balance and falls over.
46 min: The second half gets under way, with a fairly dense fog hovering over the Eithad Stadium sward. Here’s hoping our view of proceedings isn’t impaired.
3 - All three goals that Spurs have conceded in their last four Premier League games have all been headers from corners. Napping.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 16, 2017
The players troop off for their half-time beverages with Manchester City winning by the only goal of the game, scored by the unmarked Ilkay Gundogan from a corner. Spurs may be losing, but can consider themselves very lucky indeed not to be three or four goals down. They’ve worked hard tonight, but some of their defending has been slapstick and they’ve been made to look very ordinary indeed.
45+1 min: Gundogan shoots from 20 yards, but Lloris saves easily. Sane was in splendid isolation to his left, but Gundogan went for goal when he should have crossed. Not long before that, Man City had a shout for a penalty turned down when the ball hit Rose’s arm in the penalty area.
45 min: It was good goalkeeping from Ederson, who’s been outstanding in his distribution tonight. He came out to claim a ball into the box from Winks to Ali, forcing the Tottenham midfielder to hurdle his body.
43 min: Tottenham get forward, but a poor touch from Harry Kane as he tries to control a pass from Son in the penalty area sees a promising move break down. The ball ends up in the arms of Ederson, who sends City galloping up the pitch on the counter.
42 min: City go close again as Fernandinho plays the ball towards an unmarked Sergio Aguero at the far post. He’s offside.
39 min: City win a free-kick wide on the left after Dele Alli treads on Ilkay Gundogan’s instep. Tottenham, too, defend with a high line as Kevin De Bruyne sends the ball into the mixer. It’s cleared for a Manchester City throw-in.
37 min: Nicolas Otamendi catches Harry Kane in the face with a high boot as the pair contest a bouncing ball. Referee Craig Pawson books the Argentinian, who could conceivably have got a red card for that. It would have been harsh, but not completely outlandish.
35 min: A rare chance for Spurs, with Harry Kane curling a low effort a couple of feet wide of the right upright.
33 min: Manchester City go close twice in quick succession. A heavy touch from Sane enables Lloris to rush off his line and prevent the City winger from lifting the ball over him and into the back of the net. Moments later, Aguero pulls a low daisy-cutter wide from the edge of the area. Tottenham’s defence is all over the place here and the only thing preventing City from filling their boots are their own poorly aligned cross-hairs.
31 min: There’s a break in play as Trippier gets medical treatment, possibly for an injury sustained while making the clearance I just mentioned, or possibly because he’s dizzy and seeing cartoon canaries chirruping around his head from the run-around he’s getting from Leroy Sane.