LONDON (AFP) - Manchester City exacted some measure of revenge on Tottenham for their Champions League exit as Phil Foden's first Premier League goal earned a 1-0 win to move them back top of the table on Saturday (April 20).
Pep Guardiola's men edge one point ahead of Liverpool once more with four games of a titanic title race left for both sides.
For all their Champions League heroics to get to the semi-finals this season, Tottenham still have much to do to qualify for the competition next season as they could easily end the Easter weekend outside the top four should Arsenal and Chelsea beat Crystal Palace and Burnley at home respectively.
City's quest for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies was ended by defeat on away goals to Spurs on Wednesday, despite winning a thrilling quarter-final, second leg 4-3.
However, they remain on course for a first ever treble of domestic trophies in England as they survived a nervy finale thanks to another blistering start.
City have made a habit of firing out of the blocks this season and just like in midweek to kickstart a kamikaze encounter, they struck within five minutes.
Foden was making just his second Premier League start and immediately justified Guardiola's faith in the 19-year-old by heading home Sergio Aguero's nodded pass across goal from Bernardo Silva's cross.
Â
Â
However, history could easily have repeated itself as after four goals were shared in the opening 11 minutes on Wednesday, Spurs had numerous chances to strike back.
Son Heung-min had already forced Ederson in a smart save from a narrow angle before City scored and the Brazilian goalkeeper had to rush from his goal once more to deny Christian Eriksen an equaliser on 15 minutes.
Two minutes later the Dane played provider with a glorious ball to free Son in behind the City defence.
However, the South Korean, who scored twice in midweek to end City's European dreams for another season, was caught up just in time by Aymeric Laporte, who made a perfectly timed last-ditch tackle.
Despite Tottenham's chances on the break, it was the hosts who were still dominating territory and possession with Bernardo Silva a constant threat.
The Portuguese's outstanding season was rewarded as he was named alongside teammates Aguero and Raheem Sterling in the six-man shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award and Jan Vertonghen was fortunate to escape without conceding a penalty when he appeared to trip Silva inside the area.
Spurs were without captain Hugo Lloris through injury and his understudy Paulo Gazzaniga looked nervous early on, but the Argentinian goalkeeper got down to save Silva's next effort.
Guardiola's decision to leave Kevin de Bruyne out for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between the sides was doubly questioned after the Belgian bagged a brilliant hat-trick of assists in midweek.
However, Guardiola's reasoning for being cautious with his playmaker after an injury-plagued season was understandable as de Bruyne limped off again just before the break and may well now miss the rest of the campaign.
Both sides suffered from their midweek exertions and the blazing sun as the second-half meandered along at a much more subdued pace.
Spurs had a big penalty appeal of their own turned down when Kyle Walker handled inside the area against his former club.
Sterling briefly thought he had completed a hat-trick in stoppage time on Wednesday with the goal that would have sent City through to the Champions League last four until VAR ruled the goal out for offside.
And the England international could not believe his misfortune once more when Gazzaniga stuck out an outstretched leg to prevent Sterling sealing a vital three points from Leroy Sane's cut-back.
Instead, City had to suffer through the closing stages knowing one mistake could cost them the title.
But they held on as Spurs suffered an eighth straight away defeat to English opposition.
Brighton 0-1 Southampton: Ralph Hassenhuttl praises Saints players after win. The striker opened his body to try and curl the ball past Ryan but Lewis Dunk was on hand to block his effort.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg strikes to give Southampton breathing
Gareth Bale finally found the net for Real Madrid, ending his goal drought and leading his team to an easy victory over Huesca on the road at Estadio El Alcoraz. Real Madrid's Santiago Solari insists the tough playing conditions were down to his side's poor performance in
Real Madrid boss Santiago Solari won't 'give up' as Dani
Entornointeligente.com / London , United Kingdom (AFP) — Liverpool powered back to the top of the Premier League as Xherdan Shaqiri inspired a 3-1 win over bitter rivals Manchester United, while
Liverpool back on top as Shaqiri sinks United, Arsenal's
Hammers pack a punch: Klopp. Despite doubts over key West Ham players such as midfielder Samir Nasri, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is still expecting to face "a really good football team".
Hammers pack a punch: Klopp - theworldnews.net
Jun 01, 2019 · 'This is only the start', says Jürgen Klopp after Liverpool's Champions League triumph - video A nd so, back into the red.
Next article Football: Hougang find inspiration in skipper Zulfahmi Arifin to climb to second in the SPL, Football News & Top Stories. Straits Times.
UK selected. England; N. Ireland necessarily mean that you will be poor at other Commonwealth Games sports which are not listed in your results. a good match for people who rate themselves
Sports Dropout Rate for Girls Six Times Rate For Boys | MomsTeam
Arsenal manager Unai Emery has been fined £8,000 by the Football Association for kicking a bottle which hit a Brighton fan during last week's Premier League match between the sides.
Arsenal boss Emery fined £8,000 for kicking water bottle
Football: FAS employee sacked over breach of financial
Jose Mourinho says the belief Jurgen Klopp has instilled in his Liverpool squad was behind the stunning win over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals.
Jose Mourinho showers praise on Jurgen Klopp, says liverpool
Yes, it sounds natural with "next few", as clairanne said, but odd without "next" - "next hours." For the movie sentence, I would drop "next" and say, "The movie will probably start within the hour"
Urgent Care Centers | Walk-In Medical Clinics | NextCare
5 things to know about Liverpool's 4-0 Champions League win
Klopp not falling for title talk trap. Jurgen Klopp said he was wary of falling into the trap of talking up his team's chances with 18 games of the 38-match campaign remaining.
Klopp not falling for title talk trap - theworldnews.net
Sarri: 'Chelsea hard to motivate' By Football Italia staff Maurizio Sarri was furious with "difficult to motivate" Chelsea after a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, but insisted he knows nothing about
Furious Maurizio Sarri says Chelsea players lack motivation
South Korea beat China 2-0 to secure top spot in Group C at the Asian Cup on Wednesday as Tottenham's Son Heung-min made his first appearance in the tournament for Paulo Bento's side.. The Spurs
Son Heung-min helps South Korea beat China 2-0 at Asian Cup
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen