Wow. What an incredible game and finally some payback for the last two years of pain against Abu Dhabi’s finest.
Slowly the pieces have been falling into place this season. A decent center back partnership with a bit of mobility. Dier growing into the defensive midfield role. Dele Alli giving us energy and class in the middle. Son’s two footed pace. Eriksen slotting back into the team and pulling it all together. And finally, finally, a goal for Harry Kane.
Of course, City were missing Hart, Kompany and crucially Silva. For a team who’ve spent so much money, they sure do rely on a small number of players.
The start didn’t hint at the performance that was to come. Manchester City had the best of the opening exchanges, although neither team hit full stride early on. Aguero, so often Spurs’ tormentor, brought a good save from Lloris.
Then came the opening goal, irritatingly from a Spurs corner. Walker misplaced a pass across edge of the City area and Toure broke with power towards the Spurs half, Ageuro and De Bruyne in tow. Eriksen made only a half hearted attempt to stop him.
The big Ivorian slipped an almost perfect pass to De Bruyne who finished coolly. Except it wasn’t perfect, replays showed the City man was inches offside – it was to become a running theme.
It could have been two shortly after as Lloris brilliantly turned away an effort from Sterling. Spurs were hanging on.
As the half wore on Tottenham came back into it. First Lamela’s shot was blocked after a nice turn, then Kane made a lovely move to create space for an effort that was palmed away by Caballero, City’s stand in keeper. So close to the breakthrough for Kane and for Spurs.
The equaliser was coming, and it arrived shortly before half-time. Kane slipped in Walker on the right, his low cross found Son in the middle but the goalkeeper was equal to the Korean’s close range attempt. De Bruyne got to the rebound but played a terrible ball that the onrushing Dier gratefully accepted, powering a low drive into the bottom corner from distance.
Replays showed Walker had been offside in the build up. A stroke of luck we have been sorely missing against the light blue half of Manchester of late.
After half-time Spurs were in the ascendancy. First Toby Alderweireld put us in front, flicking on a Lamela free kick as Caballero came for a cross he was never going to make. It was the Blegium’s first Tottenham goal but it has been coming. He has been a constant threat at set pieces since his arrival in the summer.
Then the moment the White Hart Lane crowd have been waiting patiently for all season. Eriksen hit the frame of the goal with an excellently struck free kick and Kane managed to stab an awkwardly bouncing rebound into the net. The crowd were in delirium. 3-1 against the Premier League leaders and a finally a goal from their hero. It didn’t matter to them but Kane had been standing fractionally in front of the City wall as the free kick was taken, yet another offside goal.
Spurs continued to look dangerous. First a goal was finally chalked off for offside, Son poking in a Chadli header that may have been destined for the goal anyway. Then Lamela rounded off the scoring with a deserved fourth. The Argentine had one of his best performances in a Spurs shirt and picked up the man-of-the-match award.
N’Jie made a nice cameo, beating Kolarov on the right with some lovely skill to set up the opportunity for Lamela.
This victory was particularly sweet against a side that have inflicted so much pain on Spurs in recent memory. A side that until recently felt like fellow travelers, before the petrochemical billions arrived. Where can Spurs go from here? We mustn’t get too carried away but this is a good platform for our young team to build on.
Will Kane now go on a scoring run? How good is this Spurs side? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Anything But Penalties 
Strokes of luck indeed but how often do we get those going against us only to hear “it’s part of the game, dry your eyes mate” from the crowing (usually Chelsea/City/United) beneficiaries.
There was a sense of “here we go again” when after a good spell of Spurs possession, City bowled up the pitch and took the lead a few seconds later. But hang in there they did and after weathering the storm, pulled one back.
We have played well this season, for the most part. The odd 10-20 minute lapse here and there aside, we’ve played a lot of good stuff in every game and for once we seem to have a squad where a few of the nuts and bolts are pretty interchangeable.
Special mention for Alderweireld. Finally, a CB that can keep up with the nippy, agile attackers. There was one moment that stands out in memory: Aguero twisting and turning around the edge of our box trying to create space for a shot, but Toby was able to keep pace and react to shut him down. When Aguero dragged it back on to his left, Toby spun out of being wrong footed to get the block in. Brilliance from our newest Belgian.
Alderweireld has made a huge difference. No more terror when facing the likes of Aguero.
After 3 seasons and a ridiculous amount of unfair criticisms, Lamela has finally delivered a performance worthy of his transfer fee. Let’s hope that Coco keeps it up and continues the amazing relationship between Spurs and Argentinian attacking midfielders :)
I think it suited him to play more on the break rather than facing a team with ten men behind the ball. Let’s hope he can push on from here.