City bounce back to see off Spurs

City went into the game on a run of three straight defeats, with manager Pep Guardiola having never lost four games in a row in his managerial career.

The visitors almost got off the the perfect start after four minutes when Raheem Sterling picked out Leroy Sane perfectly, but the German's volley crashed back off the post with Hugo Lloris beaten.

Long-range efforts from Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne followed before a quick-fire double put City in a commanding position.

First, City took the lead in a manner you don't normally associate with Pep Guardiola. Vincent Kompany thumped a long ball forward and Gabriel Jesus raced away from a static backline before firing low past Lloris to open the scoring.

Just three minutes later City doubled their lead. Lloris was the pantomime villain this time as he raced off his line to close down the danger an managed only to upend Sterling, with referee Jon Moss pointing to the spot, despite the replays appearing to show that the contact was made outside of the box.

Ilkay Gundogan stepped up and sen Lloris the wrong way to put City in the driving seat.

 

14 April 2018

David Silva saw a fierce effort parried away as City went in search of a third but on the stroke of half-time, Spurs were back in the game.

Harry Kane played Christian Eriksen in and whilst his prodded effort was blocked by Aymeric Laporte, a huge slice of luck saw the ball bounce back off the Dane's other leg and beyond Ederson to reduce the arrears.

 

14 April 2018

- Second-half battle - 

Going in only a goal down seemed to reenergise the hosts, who dominated the early stages of the second period, without really creating any chances of note.

City main threat at this point was coming on the counter, with Jesus snatching at a good chance after being played in by Gundogan.

Ben Davies did well to block an effort from Sterling after David Silva broke the offside trap down the right, whilst the England star somehow failed to convert after seeing Kyle Walker's low cross parried into his path.

It looked like being one of those days for the former Liverpool man but with 18 minutes to go he got his goal. A corner broke to Jesus at the far post and whilst Lloris kept out his initial effort after it squeezed through the crowd, Sterling was the quickest to react to hammer the ball into the roof of the net and restore the two-goal lead.

Truth be told, City never looked like squandering their advantage from that point and could even have further extended their lead had Sterling been slightly sharper on the counter.

The result extends City's lead at the top of the table to 16 points ahead of Manchester United's game with West Brom on Sunday with an Albion win enough for City to be named Champions. Spurs, meanwhile, remain fourth on 67 points.

 

14 April 2018