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Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur Draw 2-2 in Week 2 Premier League Match
August 17, 2019
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur played out a 2-2 draw during Week 2 of the 2019-20 Premier League season on Saturday.
Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero twice gave the Citizens the lead in the first half, but Erik Lamela levelled the scores after 23 minutes, and Lucas Moura did so again after the break just 27 seconds after coming on as a substitute.
The video assistant took away a late goal from Gabriel Jesus due to a handling offence from Aymeric Laporte.
City dominated the opening minutes and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Rodri and Lamela tangled inside the box after a corner kick. The incident went to the video assistant, which decided in favour of Spurs.
Sports writer Miguel Delaney was surprised:
Spurs settled into the contest afterwards, and while City continued to dominate possession, the visitors did a good job limiting chances.
A sublime cross from Kevin De Bruyne gave Sterling the opening he needed after 20 minutes, however, and the England international nodded home from close range.
The advantage only lasted three minutes, though. Spurs steadily worked the ball around until it ended up with Lamela, who surged forward and fired a low shot beyond the reach of Ederson.
According to sports writer Kristof Terreur, the champions' defence did not look great:
The Citizens reset and started to patiently build their attack again. A one-two between Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne saw the latter tee up Aguero after 35 minutes, and the Argentinian didn't make a mistake to restore the lead.
Former NFL star Chad Johnson was impressed with the Belgian:
He nearly teed up Ilkay Gundogan for a third goal shortly before half-time, but the German placed his shot wide.
The Citizens continued their strong play after the break, and Hugo Lloris had to make a fine save on a deflected effort from Oleksandr Zinchenko. A quick passing move led to another shooting opportunity for De Bruyne, but his shot was not as accurate as his passing.
Sterling and Silva wasted good opportunities of their own, and their inefficiency in front of goal came back to haunt them. Substitute Lucas scored with his first touch of the ball after 56 minutes, heading home a Lamela cross.
Lloris nearly gifted the Sky Blues another lead with a poor punch to clear a cross, but no one could steer the ball home before he corrected his mistake.
Jesus replaced Aguero and made an immediate impact with two dangerous efforts on goal, going closest with a header.
Giovani Lo Celso made his Premier League debut late, and there was plenty of drama still to come. Jesus curled home what appeared to be the winner in injury time, but VAR showed Laporte handled the ball in the buildup, taking away the goal.
It was eerily reminiscent of the Champions League quarter-final second leg between the two teams in April, when Sterling scored what appeared to be a late winner before VAR ruled it out.