by Tottenham Hotspur continued their fine form at home against Man City with a 2-1 win in the Carabao Cup. Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game:
Tottenham – Man City 2-1: In the Carabao Cup pot
Did someone say Carabao Cup quarterfinals? Also the first quarter with eight Premier League teams in more than a decade, so no easy draws. Of course there is still a long way to go before we can call it a win, but this was an extremely important night for Spurs in terms of morale alone. You can follow the draw for the quarter-finals live HERE. However, a Tottenham win against Man City is always stressful, regardless of Carabao Cup or not!
Courage, persistence and running through brick walls
It would be wrong to say that tonight was a classic Ange Ball performance. Sure there were some really nice, long-range attacking moves in the first 20 minutes, but all in all it was a pretty chaotic game. What Tottenham have done really well – something they have often lacked this season – is that they have narrowed down and shown real tenacity off the ball. It’s always so easy to implode against Manchester City, especially with so many changes in the starting XI and during the game itself. Every single Tottenham player ran through walls tonight to get the result and we still need to do that see a lot more.
Timo Werner… scores a goal!
Timo Werner often does everything right until the end. That evening he finally managed to pull a ball past the goalkeeper and give the timing of his run the ending it deserved. Yes, he missed another great chance that would have ended the game, but he was one of the main reasons Tottenham made it to the quarter-finals. He deserves a lot of credit tonight.
Rodrigo Bentancur, man of the match
It may go largely unsung, but I thought Rodrigo Bentancur had a great game tonight. Not only did he keep Spurs holding the ball in the middle of the park, but he also found some nice little passes between the lines to get players like Kulusevski, Werner, Johnson and Solanke out of the way. Not content with just being an asset on the ball, some of his rebounding was phenomenal tonight too. He repeatedly came into the game with crucial interceptions and tackles to prevent dangerous Man City attacks. The battle between the Uruguayan and Bissouma for the first-choice role is becoming increasingly interesting.
Micky Van de Ven is injured again
About 10 games into the season and a hamstring injury to Micky Van de Ven. Where have we seen this before? Ange Postecoglou started the Dutchman at left-back against Man City, but he only lasted 14 minutes before injuring his thigh after a tackle. Van de Ven had tears in his eyes as he hobbled straight through the tunnel. Spurs fans will be praying it isn’t a long-term problem. In any case, a quick, left-footed centre-back should be the number one job for the January transfer window.
Related posts
