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After a breathtaking Champions League second leg encounter that saw many twists and turns, Spurs and Manchester City once again fought it out at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Understandably, both the outfits were still recovering from a very exhausting game and they made quite a few changes to their starting lineups.
Mauricio Pochettino rested one of his key players, Moussa Sissoko and replaced him with Eric Dier who had fully recovered from his injury. The full-backs Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose were replaced with Juan Foyth and Ben Davies respectively.
On the other hand, Pep Guardiola played with the same front three since this tie had the potential to be the title-deciding fixture. Youngster Phil Foden found a place in the starting lineup instead of David Silva. John Stones replaced Vincent Kompany and Zinchenko replaced Benjamin Mendy in the left back position.
It did not take much time for Manchester City to take the lead in the game as Phil Foden headed the ball in from point-blank range in the 5th minute. For the first 30 minutes, the Cityzens were totally dominant as Tottenham struggled to put together a string of passes and lacked any intent going forward.
The Manchester City midfielders pressed aggressively whenever their side lost the ball and closed down any free spaces for the opposition to pass the ball. In the second half, Tottenham decided to play long balls to counter City’s midfield press. This strategy almost paid off as Ederson was forced to come out of his position to make a vital save for his team.
The game’s intensity went up a notch in the last few minutes as Tottenham desperately looked for an equalizer. But, Manchester City held their nerve and cruised to their 10th straight Premier League victory. Here are some unnoticed things from the game:
#1 Sergio Aguero’s playing style
When it comes to clinical striking inside the box, there are few players in the world that match up to the level of Sergio Aguero. He can be a match winner with his goal scoring but against Spurs, he changed his playing style to suit the needs of his team.
On paper, Manchester City lined up in a 4-3-3 formation but Sergio Aguero regularly dropped deep to link up play with the young Phil Foden. In the 5th minute itself, Aguero had a chance to open the scoring but instead provided an unselfish assist to Foden who easily converted it into a goal.
In the second half, he moved into the left wing position and focussed on providing crosses into the box. Overall, this was a different performance from Aguero where he showcased his versatility and proved that he can be useful in more than one way for his team.
#2 Pochettino not learning from his previous failures
Pochettino’s most favoured formation is the 4-2-3-1 but in the absence of Harry Kane, he has experimented with his playing style in each match. Previously against Liverpool, he had employed a three-man defence (3-5-2) with Rose and Trippier dropping into midfield.
But Tottenham lost that game 2-1 and many criticized Pochettino for tinkering too much with the formation. He employed the same strategy against Manchester City as he started with a crowded backline that consisted of 3 central defenders and two full backs.
Due to City’s dominance in possession, Ben Davies and Juan Foyth had little work to do in the full back position and they had no clue about their role on the pitch. For the majority of the first half, Spurs lined up in a 5-1-3-1 formation and a weak midfield made things easy for Manchester City.
It looked like Pochettino realized his mistake as Ben Davies moved higher up the pitch in the second half to strengthen the attack.
#3 Manchester City’s high press troubled Paulo Gazzaniga
Pochettino decided to rest his first choice keeper Hugo Lloris and instead played Paulo Gazzaniga. Gazzaniga had a forgettable outing even though he conceded only one goal. One of the main reasons for Gazzaniga’s struggle was the lack of coordination between him and the three central defenders.
Spurs are usually comfortable when building from the back but Manchester City’s high press complicated their playing style. Sterling and Bernardo Silva pressed aggressively and did not allow Tottenham’s central defenders to move the ball forward.
Under pressure, Sanchez and Alderweireld played the ball back to Gazzaniga who was caught napping a couple of times and could have easily conceded two more goals. He also gave away unnecessary corners to Manchester City and his distribution lacked any purpose.
The Argentine also had an ugly spat with Raheem Sterling before the end of the game and he will be hoping for better communication and passing from his central defenders in the next match.
