Manchester City vs. Tottenham: Score and Reaction from 2017 Premier League Match
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium during Saturday's Premier League action.
City dominated the first half but failed to find the net, but two major errors from Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris aided the hosts after the break.
The stopper first gifted Leroy Sane the opener with a missed clearance, and he dropped a cross right in front of Kevin De Bruyne minutes later. Dele Alli pulled one back shortly after, and then Son Heung-min tied things up in controversial fashion, scoring less than one minute after the Citizens were denied a clear penalty.
As City's Twitter account shared, Gabriel Jesus and Vincent Kompany both started on the bench:
Eric Dier and Kevin Wimmer made their way into the starting XI for Spurs:
Per Spurs' official Twitter account, Harry Kane made his 100th Premier League appearance for the club.
City started the match on the front foot, but chances were few during the nervy opening stages. Nicolas Otamendi tried his luck with an ambitious effort from long range, but his shot sailed well over the crossbar.
David Silva hit the side netting from a tight angle, with Lloris ready to intervene if necessary, and Sergio Aguero got in the way of Pablo Zabaleta, not allowing the latter to finish a clever move.
Aguero had a go himself shortly after, launching a shot over Lloris' goal. The F2 were enjoying the action:
Wimmer and Dier struggled to contain the City attack, and the two were both booked in the span of two minutes. Several free-kicks caused some panic inside Lloris' box, but Spurs escaped unscathed.
Lloris made a fine save to deny Silva, showing his strong wrists, and De Bruyne set up Zabaleta, who once again failed to direct his shot on target. On the other side of the pitch, City keeper Claudio Bravo nearly crossed outside his box before denying Christian Eriksen.
De Bruyne curled a shot wide after good work from Aguero, and Victor Wanyama powered a volley over the bar. Sane threatened with a header that flew wide, and Aguero drew an excellent save from Lloris after a great cross from De Bruyne.
City kept pushing, with Otamendi and Raheem Sterling going close in the final minutes and Dier making a key block on Yaya Toure. At half-time, Bleacher Report UK thought the visitors were in dire need of some help:
Spurs started the second half well, but two blunders from Lloris soon broke the match open. First, the Frenchman completely missed a headed clearance, allowing Sane to easily convert.
Just five minutes―and an incident between Ali and Otamendi―later, Lloris suffered another howler. He dropped a cross from Sterling, allowing De Bruyne to tap home the second goal. Sports writer Andrew Gibney couldn't believe it:
The two-goal sprint seemed to wake the visitors up, and four minutes after De Bruyne's strike, Spurs pulled a goal back. A cross eventually fell to Alli, who nodded home to restore hope to the side.
Per WhoScored.com, the 20-year-old is enjoying a superb season:
The action remained fast and furious, as City wanted a penalty after Sterling went down inside the box. Replays showed Danny Rose made a superb tackle to deny the former Liverpool man, however.
Spurs suffered a blow when Toby Alderweireld went down with an injury, and manager Mauricio Pochettino opted to introduce Harry Winks.
City kept dominating, however, with Silva finding Zabaleta, who saw his shot get deflected for a corner. The Citizens were furious when the official didn't award a penalty for a clear foul from Walker on Sterling, who was alone in front of Lloris, and to make matters worse, Son equalised less than one minute after the controversy.
MailSport's Huw Bonello couldn't wait for the post-match reaction from City manager Pep Guardiola:
Guardiola introduced Jesus, who impressed straight away by firing a dangerous cross into the box and scoring from an offside position within a minute of entering the pitch. Spurs also hunted for a late winner, but neither side was successful.
As shared by Rob Harris of the Associated Press, Guardiola was happy with the way his team played, even if the result didn't go their way:
Pochettino praised the fight his team showed on their way to the draw:
City's next outing will be the FA Cup match at Crystal Palace on Jan. 28, while Spurs host Wycombe.
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