Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Manchester City HIGHLIGHTS: Son's goal enough as Nuno's Spurs clinches a brilliant win over defending champion, Man City
Welcome to Sportstar's commentary from the Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City Premier League 2021-22 encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.
Published : Aug 15, 2021 19:45 IST
This is Sportstar's highlights of the match blog of the 2021-22 Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
MATCH REPORT: Spurs beats Man City 1-0 in league opener under new manager Nuno
90+5' Gundogan seems to have taken a heavy tumble. He is on the ground now.
90+4' A brilliant challenge by Sanchez to stop De Bruyne's run. The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is roaring.
90+2' Spurs win a free-kick but isn't in any rush to take it for obvious reasons. Victory within touching distance for Nuno's men.
90+1' BOOKINGS- Grealish and Sanchez of City and Spurs see yellow.
FOUR ADDITIONAL MINUTES!!!
90' SUB- Debutant Cristian Romero replaces Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
89' Cancelo puts a cross inside Spurs' box in search of a city player but Lloris comes and out and claims it confidently.
86' SHOT- Torres with a surging run from the right. He hugs the touchline and takes a shot at Lloris' near-post. The Spurs captain sends the ball out with a toepoke.
83' SUB- Matt Doherty replaces Japhet Tanganga. He has had a great game and the fans are making sure he knows that as he walks off the pitch.
80' SHOT- Son with a dangerous shot from distance but its just wide of the goal. He gets a corner as the shot took a nick off a City defender.
78' SUB- Kevin De Bruyne and Oleksandr Zinchenko replace Riyad Mahrez and Benjamin Mendy. Final throw of the dice by Pep.
77' SUB- Steven Bergwijn is replaced by Giovani Lo Celso.
75' SHOT- Jesus slides one to Grealish, who shoots at the near-post. Lloris makes a comfortable save.
74' BLOCK- Moura takes the shot after the ball drops kindly for him but Ake gets a block.
71' SUB- Gabriel Jesus replaces Raheem Sterling.
70' CHANCE- It was a brilliantly-worked free-kick for City. Mahrez runs over the ball and Gundogan slides it to Cancelo. The full-back put in a low cross, which finds Torres but he cannot steer the ball home.
66' BOOKING- Spurs' Moura challenges Grealish who goes down. He refuses to let go of the ball in defiance, which invites Taylor to show a yellow to the Brazilian.
65' Spurs is demonstrating what football is all about right now. On paper, City wins on any given day but as things stand, Spurs is looking to win its fourth home against City on the trot.
62' Grealish attempts a cross inside the box but it is cleared easily by Dier.
60' CHANCE- What a chance for Spurs to double its lead. Bergwjin had an opportunity to get a shot away. His shot got the better of Ederson but clips the side-netting. Big miss that.
58' Spurs has been the better side since the start of the second half and now has something to show for it. This might be the wake-up call City needed.
55' GOOOAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!! SON GIVES THE LEAD TO TOTTENHAM!!!! Spurs was looking dangerous right from the beginning of the second half and it has finally broken the City defence. Moura flicks the ball into the path of Bergwijn who passed it to Son. Son took on Ake and steered the ball into the far-corner of Ederson's goal.
53' CHANCE- Tanganga puts a ball inside the City box. Moura attempts a shot but nothing comes off it.
52' SHOT- Fernandinho attempts a shot from distance despite having a catalogue of options around him. It is horribly wide.
48' BLOCK- Grealish passes it to Gundogan. The pass was behind the German but he still took a shot away. It is blocked by Sanchez.
47' CHANCE- Spurs starting strong in the second half. Fernandinho is dispossessed (yes you read that right) by Alli, who played it to Hojbjerg. The midfielder get his shot away, which almost falls for Son but Dias was alert. He blocked the shot.
46' Lets start the second half with a surprising stat
SECOND HALF-UNDERWAY!!
City started strong but Spurs soaked the pressure and came back to launch dangerous attacks of its own.
The first half can be described as a fairly even contest by the two teams with City dominating the earlier stages while Spurs coming into the match after the 20-minute mark.
It can be anybody's match. Stay tuned for the second half.
HALF-TIME (TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0-0 MANCHESTER CITY)
ONE ADDITIONAL MINUTE!!
44' SHOT- Its Grealish this time with a shot but it is dealt by the Spurs defence. Fernandinho takes a shot from distance but its wide as well.
42' SHOT- Son with a long-range effort but the ball kept sailing over the goal. Ederson untroubled.
40' SHOT- Son finds himself at the edge of City's box. He takes a shot at Ederson, which is not too far away from goal. Cancelo had a touch of the ball but referee Anthony Taylor couldn't spot that and refuted Son's corner claims.
39' Grealish looks dangerous whenever he gets the ball. Apart from inviting fouls, he has slipped in deft passes to his teammates.
| STAT: Spurs has conceded seven fouls in the match so far. Grealish has been the recipient of four of them and Sterling the other three |
35' CHANCE- A great chance for City to go ahead. Sterling's deflected cross off Tanganga falls to Mahrez, who shoots. His half volley is off-target.
34' SHOT- Grealish tries a curler from the left side of the box but Tanganga with a confident interception.
32' CHANCE- Spurs with a quick break through Bergwjin. He slides it to Son, who should have taken the shot but chose to hold the ball, looking to feed it to one of his teammates. He cannot find one and the chance goes begging.
28' CHANCE- A great move by Spurs. Moura fed a great ball to Bergwjin as he surged inside City's box. He turns and squares the ball to Son. son takes the shit but its blocked. The rebound falls to Mouro but he is offside.
24' CLOSE- Son swings a great ball inside the box form a Spurs freekic. Ederson tries to claim the ball but cannot. The looping ball is caught beautifully by Mouro who shoots towards goal. It is going in if not for Gundogan's goal line clearance.
23' This is the longest Spurs has spent in City's half as the London side is enjoying a prolonged period of pressure on City's goal.
21' SHOT- Bergwijn gets a shot away from the edge of the penalty area but Dias' gets his body in the way. Spurs corner.
19' Tottenham gets its first corner as a result of a deflected Son shot. It is right in front of the white wall. Son delivers a decent ball and Moura tries to attack it but Ederson punches it away. Its the City keeper's first touch of the match.
17' Alli tries to launch an attack for the first time in the match with a surging run but Cancelo gets the better of him. Spurs throw-in.
15' Whenever Spurs gets the ball back and tries to mount an attack, City players are efficient in dispossessing the home side and launch a counter-pressure.
12' Relentless attacking by City: Its Mahrez who takes a shot at Lloris from the right flank but the angle made it comfortable for the Spurs captain to make the save.
11' Sterling wriggles into the Spurs box but Skipp puts in a well-timed challenge and the ball goes out for a corner. Skipp wanted a goal kick.
9' Nice opportunity for Son to put the ball into the City box but he wastes the chance and passes it backwards, which breaks the momentum of the attack.
8' The opening minutes have been frantic for Tottenham with City coming on at full-throttle.
6' SHOT- Champion City already dictating play. Mendy swings in a well-measured ball towards Mahrez, who put the ball inside Spurs' box. Dier's clearance was weak and the rebound fell to Cancelo, The Portuguese's shot is wide.
5' Lloris ventured out to collect the ball from City's corner but failed to do so. Fernandinho with a header towards Spurs' open goal but his effort is wide.
4' Gundogan's freekick takes a nick off a Spurs player and goes out for a corner.
3' Grealish already proving to be a nuisance for the Tottenham defence. He skipped pass Skipp into Spurs' box and was fouled by the latter right at the edge of Spurs' box.
2' Mouro spotted Son's run and lobbed a long ball towards him but Ake was well positioned to intercept the pass.
1' KICK-OFF!!!
21:00- AND WE ARE UNDERWAY!!!
20.45- STAT ATTACK!!
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20.25- What is football without the fans?
20.15 IST- Kane is not in Spurs' matchday squad, which adds fuel to the rumours of a possible City move this summer. Read what City coach Pep Guardiola had to say about the whole saga.
READ: Not going to talk about Kane, says City manager Guardiola
LINEUPS ARE OUT!!!
Spurs XI (4-2-3-1): LLoris (GK) (C); Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Regulion; Skipp, Hoejbjerg; Moura, Alli, Bergwjin; Son
Subs: Doherty, Romero, Winks, Gil, Sissoko, Lo Celso, Gollini (GK), Davies, Scarlett
Coach: Nuno Espirito Santo
Man City XI (4-3-3): Ederson (GK); Cancelo, Ake, Dias, Mendy; Grealish; Fernandinho (C), Gundogan; Mahrez, Torres, Sterling\
Subs: Steffen (GK), Walker, Stones, Jesus, Zinchenko, Laporte, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo
Coach: Pep Guardiola
Preview
Manchester City begins the defense of its Premier League title with a trip to Tottenham, for whom the champions' transfer target Harry Kane could feature.
Kane was back in training with the Spurs squad on Friday and manager Nuno Espirito Santo said he would make a late decision on whether to play the striker against a team Kane is keen to join.
City could give a first start to Jack Grealish, who signed for British-record $139 million in the offseason.