Tottenham beat Man City 1-0 in the UCL quarter final – first leg
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Manchester City travelled to the startling new stadium of Tottenham Hotspur to face the north London side in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. The English champions became the first visitors for an European fixture hosted at the fantastic new stadium.
Pep Guardiola dropped Sane to the bench despite the German being instrumental in Man City’s Champions League victory over Shalke in the previous round. Sergio Aguero returned to the starting XI after missing the FA Cup semi final with a muscle problem. Man City went with pacey Sterling and Mahrez at the wings. Fernandinho occupied the crucial holding midfield role behind Gundagon and David Silva. At the back, in front of goal-keeper Ederson, Laporte and Otamendi occupied the centre-back slots while Delph and former Spurs player Walker started as full-backs.
Man City Starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Delph, Fernandinho, David Silva, Gundagon, Sterling, Mahrez, Aguero
Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino started Harry Kane who has a phenomenal record as a striker in the UCL. World-cup winner Hugo Lloris, despite his error against Liverpool, started ahead of Vorm. Eriksen and Son, both of whom scored in Spurs’ first game at their home stadium, started the crunch fixture against City.
Tottenham Hotspur Starting XI: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Sissoko, Winks, Eriksen, Dele, Son, Kane
Raheem Sterling sent the early warning signs to the home fans by dribbling on the left side, cutting in and beating defenders before firing a shot that caught Danny Rose in the arm. The referee, with VAR’s assistance awarded Man City a penalty. Sergio Aguero took the penalty but couldn’t score. Hugo Lloris made a fine save and denied Man City an early lead.
In the twenty third minute, Spurs created their first major chance. Dele Alli turned and beat Otamendi on the left side but before being fouled, the English attacker still managed to pass the ball to Eriksen who then found an unmarked Kane in the box. The English captain fired a shot but Ederson made a good save to keep the score tied at 0-0. A few minutes later, Laporte picked up a yellow card for a foul from behind on Dele Alli. Man City conceded far too many set-pieces to Tottenham in the first half but the London side barely troubled Ederson.
Man City started the second half brightly with Gundagon releasing Aguero who then played a diagonal ball to Sterling who was waiting at the box on the left hand side. Sterling’s shot from a tight angle brought a routine save out of Lloris. Two minutes later, Son brought a similar save out of Ederson with a shot from just outside the edge of the box after Kane had launched him in.
Kane injured his ankle trying to stop Delph’s clearance and had to be replaced by Lucas Moura. Man City dominated the next 20 minutes of the play but couldn’t find an end-product. Against the run of play, Son went past Delph to receive the ball but his first touch took the ball towards the by-line. The South Korean still managed to keep it in play. He then took a sublime turn, accelerated past Delph to create space and then blasted the ball past Ederson to score and give Spurs a 1-0 lead.
Pep Guardiola brought on Kevin DeBruyne and Leroy Sane as the clock was ticking towards the 90 minute mark. Man City couldn’t break a resilient Tottenham defense and it was the north London side that picked up the 1-0 win and would now carry a slender lead to the second leg of the tie, which will be held at the home of the English champions. Elsewhere, Liverpool beat Porto 2-0 comfortably at the Anfield.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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