Manchester Metropolis suffered a fifth consecutive loss in all competitions after falling to a 0-4 defeat towards Tottenham Hotspur within the Premier League on Saturday night.
A unsurprising defeat and merciless trade with data on the full-time whistle was a return to motion to overlook for Pep Guardiola and his gamers of their newest outing towards Tottenham on the Etihad Stadium.
Regardless of a couple of shaky items of play, Manchester Metropolis gave the impression to be enjoying fluid soccer within the opening minutes of the competition. However it took Spurs solely 10 minutes to destroy the phantasm – exposing the reigning champions for all of their faults.
The Sky Blues created a couple of probabilities, principally ending with Erling Haaland lacking the mark. Phil Foden mixed with Josko Gvardiol to steer previous the Spurs’ protection a couple of instances. Whereas spectacular within the assault, the Croatian would quickly be punished for his defensive duties.
Dejan Kulusevski caught Gvardiol off the mark and escaped with the ball earlier than curling it in with a splendid cross to discover a pacing James Madison. The midfielder discovered house between John Stones and Kyle Walker and glided previous the Metropolis defenders to ship the ball previous Ederson into the underside left nook.
The guests continued to construct stress on Guardiola’s males, with their relentless assaults paying off ahead of Metropolis anticipated. A misplaced cross from Gvardiol noticed Madison pounce on the ball and roll it in Son Heung-min’s path earlier than making a diagonal run contained in the field.
The Spurs ahead patiently waited for the ball earlier than passing it again to Madison, who dinked it over the Metropolis keeper to offer his aspect a 0-2 lead. The hosts created a handful of probabilities in the remainder of the half however did not convey any of these to fruition. Ederson, alternatively, was completely examined, as Metropolis’s protection repeatedly fell aside with Ilkay Gundogan and Rico Lewis’ midfield pairing.
Issues have been hardly totally different when either side returned for the second half, with the visiting aspect shortly including a 3rd aim to their tally. Kullusevski as soon as once more discovered his well beyond Metropolis’s protection, this time beating three gamers with some assist from Son. He then discovered Dominic Solanke contained in the field with a protracted cross, and the latter reduce it again for Pedro Porro to fireplace previous Ederson.
Kevin De Bruyne’s introduction at a little bit over the hour’s mark sparked a relentless wave of assaults from the Sky Blues. The Metropolis forwards compelled Guglielmo Vicario to make a number of essential saves inside a small window, however the Spurs goalkeeper stood his floor, withstanding all stress.
The Belgian was additionally booked afterward for his heated trade with Ismaïla Sarra after by chance kicking the Spurs winger contained in the field. Just like the earlier targets, Man Metropolis was punished with a sudden counterattack within the last moments. Timo Werner glided previous Walker to discover a myriad of house and rolled the ball into the trail of Brennan Johnson, who netted a fourth aim for the Ange Postecoglou-led aspect.
This marked the primary time Guardiola suffered a fifth consecutive defeat in his managerial profession. The Catalan has a substantial job forward of him as Metropolis fall 5 factors behind table-leader Liverpool forward of their Premier League conflict this weekend.
The ultimate whistle quickly went off, leaving the reigning champions to dwell over the humiliating defeat that unceremoniously ended their two-year unbeaten run on the Etihad Stadium.
Right here’s how we imagine the Manchester Metropolis gamers fared of their conflict towards Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night, as attentions will instantly flip to a UEFA Champions League assembly towards Feyenoord on Tuesday evening.
Participant Scores
Beginning XI
Ederson – 6
Conceded targets that have been as typical as they arrive, made essential saves, and, at instances, appeared as the one saving grace on the again
Kyle Walker – 5
Spun round, outpaced and outmatched, however managed to maintain Son from posing extra risk
John Stones – 5
Made essential interceptions on the again however ought to have achieved higher within the first two targets
Manuel Akanji – 5
Unable to deal with the depth of Spurs’ relentless assaults, was caught off-guard on a couple of events
Josko Gvardiol – 4
Was outplayed by Dejan Kulusevski, who grew more and more snug attacking down the correct aspect as the sport progressed, two errors straight resulting in targets
Bernardo Silva – 5
Inexplicable work charge, and but, nothing to point out for a similar, ran forwards and backwards however made no vital distinction to assault or protection
Ilkay Gundogan – 4
Struggled in his pairing with Lewis, was poor in his ahead passes, and barely provided assist prime the defensive line-up
Rico Lewis – 4
Extremely nervous within the defensive midfield position, ended up being a legal responsibility for the defensive line-up
Savinho – 5
Made spectacular runs shifting ahead however made poor selections together with his last play
Phil Foden – 5
Tried creating a number of probabilities and commanded the assaults from the midfield however did not pierce by means of the Spurs’ protection as usually as he would have appreciated
Erlin Haaland – 4
Missed a number of of his probabilities, removed from his goal-scoring kind currently
Substitutes
Nathan Ake – 5
Changed Stones and located himself overwhelmed by Solanke, ought to have achieved higher for the third aim
Kevin De Bruyne – 6
Ignited a hearth in Metropolis’s assault regardless of the restricted presence, created probabilities to spark a brand new hope amidst his aspect however to no avail
Jack Grealish – 4
Obtained the ball, made his runs, tricked the defenders, and nothing got here of it