Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City to advance to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, but both teams were left to rue multiple injuries during the game.
Timo Werner swept a fine goal past Stefan Ortega to give Tottenham an early lead and Pape Matar Sarr curled a brilliant shot home from long range to make it 2-0.
Just before the break Savinho set up Matheus Nunes to pull a goal back for City but Pep Guardiola’s side failed to level after the break.
City lost Manuel Akanji to injury in the warm-up, and Savinho was taken off on a stretcher in the second half, to add to their considerable injury list. For Tottenham, Werner and, more worryingly for fans, Micky van de Ven, also had to be replaced because of injury.
Jack Pitt-Brooke, Thom Harris and Jay Harris (no relation) analyse the key talking points…
Should Spurs focus on the cups?
There was something familiar about this Spurs performance, if only because in recent years they have been very good at winning big games against Manchester City, especially here. This was their sixth win over City in eight attempts here, and it felt like some of those big nights under previous managers.
You might argue that, if Spurs are going to be a serious team this season, they need to play like this every week, to show up and compete in games like Crystal Palace away, or Brighton away, both of which they have painfully lost in recent weeks.
But there is still a lot to be said for being a cup team, one that can reach their top level when they need to, especially against top sides. Realistically, Spurs are not going to win the Premier League this season. Even top-four qualification will be difficult, given the teams ahead of them.
They are now down to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup though, and very well set in the Europa League too. The FA Cup is still to come. If they can just string a few more big performances like this together, and win a trophy, or even get close to one, this season can be a stirring success.
Even if they do not have in them to do it every week in the league.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Guardiola asked for no injuries. Instead he got two
Guardiola might have tempted fate with a request for the footballing gods at his pre-match press conference yesterday. “No injuries, please!” he smiled.
Instead, City lost a player before the game had even begun, Akanji dropping out of the starting line-up at the last minute, replaced by Ruben Dias after a suspected knock in the warm-up. An even darker twist came as Savinho passed Guardiola on a stretcher on his way down the tunnel early in the second half.
That now leaves eight of his players absent with injuries, including all three natural wingers: Savinho, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Akanji, Kyle Walker, Rodri and Oscar Bobb.
While they have coped well with the season-ending blow to Rodri, tonight’s developments — especially with the young Brazilian winger hitting his best form for the club — will leave a bitter taste in the mouth for City fans, particularly if news surrounding Akanji is worse than initially thought.
Thom Harris
Spurs are half the team without Van de Ven
It was the sight that no Tottenham fan wanted to see: Van de Ven leaving the pitch in tears just 14 minutes into the game after sustaining what appeared to be a hamstring injury. He had just put in a thumping slide-tackle on Savinho, one that had lit up the whole crowd, part of Spurs’ ferocious start to this game. But when he stood up afterwards, he clutched his muscle in pain.
Everyone here thought back to last season and the damage done to Spurs’ campaign by a Van de Ven hamstring injury. He pulled up during Spurs’ calamitous 4-1 defeat to Chelsea, one year ago next week. The Dutch centre-back missed the next two months and Spurs’ season collapsed.
It is no secret now how important Van de Ven is to Spurs. His pace allows them to be as aggressive as they want to be. His skill on the ball helps them to build out from the back. He is a unique player and Spurs are half the team without him.
No wonder, then, that Ange Postecoglou withdrew Cristian Romero, seemingly to protect him, early on in the second half. Tottenham cannot afford the same centre-back crisis this autumn that they had last year.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
City will miss Savinho’s inventiveness from out wide
Guardiola singled out this fixture as one his team would not “waste energy” on well over a month in advance, and their first-half showing did little to suggest that he had gained any more enthusiasm to win it. Their build-up was routinely smothered by an aggressive Spurs press, and there was a worrying catalogue of mis-hit passes from Ilkay Gundogan and Nico O’Reilly in particular, even in instances when City had more time and space.
Instead, the zip to City’s play was provided by the wide players. While Matheus Nunes was again deputising on the left — notably racing past Archie Gray and squaring agonisingly ahead of Phil Foden late in the first half — Savinho was back making the right side his own, offering the kind of dynamism and freestyle dribbling that took La Liga by storm last campaign.
Aside from three outrageous nutmegs, Savio’s forward thrust has caught the eye in recent weeks — he carried the ball into the penalty area 10 times against Southampton last weekend, more than any player in a single game in Europe’s top five leagues this season. He managed four tonight before being taken off by a stretcher, providing the assist for City’s only goal with a perfectly stood-up cross to the back-post.
That was his party trick for Girona — bursting to the byline before clipping the ball to the far side — only he routinely did it from the left. That the 20-year-old is continuing to make that move look easy on the opposite flank is Savinho’s unpredictability in a nutshell.
Even when City return to full strength on the weekend, they will desperately miss his inventiveness from the flanks.
Thom Harris
Werner gives a reminder of his quality
When Werner was substituted at half-time in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar last week, it felt like Ange Postecoglou was finally losing faith in him. Mikey Moore’s thrilling second-half performance, and flashes of brilliance on his first Premier League start against Crystal Palace at the weekend, seemed to confirm a changing of the guard.
With Son Heung-min and Wilson Odobert both injured, Werner was given another opportunity against Manchester City and it only took him six minutes to remind everybody of his quality.
Tottenham played out from the back and when Brennan Johnson flicked the ball into Dejan Kulusevski’s path, Man City were left wide open. Kulusevski crossed the ball into the box for Werner, whose first-time shot beat Ortega with a slight deflection from Rico Lewis. It was the 28-year-old’s first goal since March and only his third in 26 appearances for Spurs since he joined them in January from RB Leipzig on loan.
Tottenham supporters responded by chanting Werner’s name and that moment clearly filled him with confidence, as he was their biggest attacking threat throughout the first half. He kept driving past Lewis and drilling crosses into the box, and he helped Kulusevski set up Sarr’s stunning long-distance strike.
It was Werner’s best performance for a long time but there were still a few occasions where he was guilty of erratic finishing. He wasted an excellent chance to score right at the start of the second half when he raced away from Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias but fired wide.
It was a shame to see him limp off in the 68th minute clutching his inner right thigh but he was warmly applauded for what turned out to be a match-winning display.
Jay Harris
What did Ange Postecoglou say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Pep Guardiola say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Spurs?
Sunday, November 3: Aston Villa (H), Premier League, 14:00 (GMT), 10:00 (ET)
What next for City?
Saturday, November 3: Bournemouth (A), Premier League, 15:00 (GMT), 11:00 (ET)
Recommended reading
- Rodri is a deserved winner of the Ballon D’Or – no matter what Real Madrid might think
- To continue their progress, Postecoglou’s Spurs must learn to win ugly
- What Pep Guardiola really means when he is nice about a struggling manager
- The tragedy of Pierre Bolangi, the promising footballer who died on a pre-season Army camp
(Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
