Manchester: After yet another brilliant performance which took them to 16 consecutive wins in all competitions and 9 in the league, Manchester City remain clear at the top of the Premier League with a resounding 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
Speaking about the win, City manager Pep Guardiola said: “It was well deserved. The way we wanted to play, the approach, was there. Tottenham have a special quality, they don’t need anything to create chances, this is down to their quality. But we have a special way to play, this is how we are going to play, but we must be patient, patient, patient.”
He added: “We are so happy with the victory and the three points. The first five minutes they were better, then the first time we arrive we score, which sometimes happens, and we went on to control the game, so yes well deserved.”
Spurs missed an early chance to take the lead when a lovely curling free-kink by Harry Kane struck the angle of the cross bar and post. But soon after, in the 23rd minute, City opened the scoring with a penalty when Ilkay Gundogan was trod on by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as he stretched to challenge. After a discussion as to who would take the spot kick as City have missed several chances to convert penalties, Rodri stepped up for it and nearly failed as Hugo Lloris got a hand to the ball as it went in.
City were in full control in the second half and five minutes into the restart they were two up. Raheem Stirling opened the Tottenham defence with a perfect pass to Gundogan who had run into the box and the midfielder sent a low shot past Lloris who had again managed to get a hand to the ball on its way in.
A quarter of an hour later City put the game beyond the London side with Gundogan scoring his second and the best of the game. The assist for it came from the goalkeeper Ederson, who looked up and found Gundogan and sent an astonishing 80-yard shot to the German who ran behind the Spurs backline. He superbly brought the ball down with his first touch then beat Davison Sanchez, leaving him on the ground, as he clipped the ball into the far corner for his 11th goal in 12 league games and 13 in all competitions this season.
For Spurs it was their fourth defeat in five matches putting pressure on the manager Jose Mourinho whose excuse for the defeat was tiredness, blaming the midweek defeat against Everton in the FA Cup. He said: “A fresh team against a tired team. I am very happy with my players attitude because they played for two hours just a few days ago. They showed great dignity because at 3-0 a team that is not united would have given up.”
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