Tottenham 2 Man City 1: Spurs miss chances but cling on to reach Cup quarters as they target first trophy in 17 years
WHAT’S Catalan for ‘down to the bare bones’?
The old adage of former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp seems very fitting for Pep Guardiola now after his Manchester City side suffered more blows in this lost battle of the walking wounded.
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Savinho became the latest casualty as the Brazilian was forced off on a stretcher, leaving Guardiola with just ELEVEN fit outfield first-team players.
Manuel Akanji also picked up a problem in the warm-up, joining Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doku, Oscar Bobb and Ballon D’Or winner Rodri on the treatment table.
No wonder Guardiola, who had asked for a “good performance, but no more injuries please” ahead of the game, did not want to waste energy on this competition.
Now he will not have to as Tottenham earned a statement win thanks to Timo Werner ending his 12-game goal drought this term and a Pape Sarr stunner.
But it came at a cost for Ange Postecoglou’s men as they lost both Werner and Micky van de Ven to hamstring injuries, either side of a Matheus Nunes strike.
At least the hope of a first trophy in 16 years was kept alive for Spurs – as was Postecoglou’s promise of always winning silverware in his second season.
City dominated the ball in the opening exchanges but it was Spurs who took an early lead thanks to Werner’s uncharacteristically clinical finish.
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A clever flick from Brennan Johnson had set Dejan Kulusevski away down the right and when the Swede fired a ball across the box, Werner struck it first time past a helpless Stefan Ortega.
The smile on his face, and those of his team-mates, showed the relief after such a long stint without scoring.
In contrast Van de Ven looked to be in tears as he was subbed off soon after after damaging his hamstring in a sliding challenge on Savinho.
Spurs shook off the blow and managed to double their lead midway through the half thanks to Sarr’s fantastic finish.
It came from a smart short corner when Kulusevski exchanged passes with Werner and laid it back to Sarr who curled it home from the edge of the area.
The Malian was nicknamed Roberto Carlos as a kid on account of his long-range strikes.
This was more placement than power – but an effort Brazilian legend Carlos would have been proud of.
Guardiola had made six changes to his side, and though it still possessed plenty of quality, it was struggling to conjure up its usual creativity.
Erling Haaland had been left on the bench with Phil Foden reprising his false nine role from the seasons prior to the Norwegian goal machine’s arrival.
As the first half wore on, England man Foden became more involved.
He was inches away from tapping home Nunes’ ball across the box and then hooked a difficult, but manageable, for him anyway, volley over the bar.
Spurs were dropping deeper and ceding more and more possession, just hoping to get to the break with their two-goal lead intact.
Yet they could not hold out as in the fourth minute of stoppage time, livewire Savinho crossed for the equally-impressive Nunes to fire in at the far post. Game on.
Postecoglou was left shaking his head but it was fair cop, as the Aussie might say, given how his side had gone into their shells.
The Spurs chief responded by taking off Sarr for Yves Bissouma at the break, while Mateo Kovacic was sent on for the disappointing Gundogan.
Postecoglou’s side had a flurry of chances to restore their two-goal cushion early after the break.
First, lightning almost struck twice as Werner came so close to netting again when sent racing through by Dominic Solanke, but his left-footed strike shaded the wrong side of the post.
It was then Kulusevski’s turn to be sent haring into the box but his effort was turned away by Ortega, who had earlier denied Johnson too, before Werner then blasted over.
Foden’s night was done before the hour but instead of Haaland, it was Bernardo Silva sent into action.
Seconds after the sub had been made, Savinho went down with what looked like a right ankle issue, seemingly after an innocuous challenge with Destiny Udogie.
It was so bad that the Brazilian had to come off on a stretcher, being replaced by rookie Jacob Wright.
Spurs were then hit by more injury woe as Werner pulled up with a hamstring issue but managed to hold out for the victory – helped massively by Bissouma’s goal-line clearance from Nico O’Reilly late on.