Tottenham Lose To Four Goal Aguero At Manchester City

Reduced to ten-men, Tottenham were undone by four goals from Sergio Aguero, including two penalties, against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City 4  Tottenham Hotspur 1

Scorers: Aguero (4) (2 pens)   Eriksen

Team: Lloris, Dier, Fazio, Kaboul, Rose; Capoue (Dembele), Mason (Vertonghen); Chadli, Eriksen, Lamela (Townsend); Soldado  Subs: (unused)Vorm, Stambouli, Adebayor, Kane

For an hour it looked as if Tottenham were going to restore some order to their matches against top-4 sides but in the space of 6 minutes it all changed as Roberto Soldado missed a penalty to make it 2 – 2 and then a third penalty award for City gave them a two goal advantage and Spurs had Federico Fazio sent off.

Tottenham conceded four goals to Sergio Aguero and had only a first half equaliser from Christian Eriksen to show for their afternoon’s effort at the Etihad Stadium. City were the better team and deserved their victory but were assisted by some poor defending from Spurs and some bad decisions by referee Jonathan Moss.

It was a relief to every Spurs supporter that Hugo Lloris had recovered from injury to take his place in the Tottenham team against Manchester City. Nacer Chadli, the other injury worry, was also fit to play. In defence, as expected, Eric Dier replaced the injured Kyle Naughton but in a surprise move, Federico Fazio partnered Younes Kaboul in central defence for his Premier League debut. Jan Vertonghen was on the bench along with Emmanuel Adebayor who was replaced by Roberto Soldado, making his first Premier League start of the season.

Tottenham troubled City when they went forward in the first half and had three good scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes. On 5 minutes, in a break by Chaldi he played to ball back to Ryan Mason on the edge of the box but his effort went wide. An even better chance fell to Mason, minutes later when played in by a beautiful ball from Soldado. His shot was saved by Joe Hart and the rebound from Christian Eriksen was deflected over.

In the 12th minute, Erik Lamela gave the ball away outside the area, and City took advantage, playing the ball to Aguero who struck the ball across Lloris from the left side of the area. Frank Lampard, however, was in an offside position, in front of the goalkeeper.

Within less than two minutes, Spurs were level. Mason caught Fernando in possession, and played the ball to Soldado who found Eriksen and his shot went in off the bar.

In the 18th minute, the referee awarded City a penalty when Lamela and Lampard challenged for the ball in the area. With minimal contact, Lampard went down and a soft penalty was awarded. Aguero sent Lloris the wrong way, putting the ball low to his left.

For a period City were full of confidence and troubling the Spurs defence with Lloris having to come to the rescue. Spurs continued to look dangerous going forward but couldn’t find a way through. After half an hour, Kaboul fouled Silva but Lloris denied Aguero, saving with his feet.

Coming up to the interval. Joe Hart rescued City when he saved from Mason following a period of Spurs pressure with Etienne Capoue and Eriksen having shots blocked. By half-time both sides had had 10 attempts on goal but City put 7 on target compared with 4 from Spurs.

The second half continued in an entertaining fashion with City threatening but Lloris was proving a difficult man to beat. A loose ball fell to Aguero who shot from the edge of the area. The ball bounced and swerved but Lloris saved low. The City pressure mounted with their final pass being more accurate to create openings from all around the pitch.

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Chadli put a shot wide and Eriksen’s effort was blocked but a quick counter-attack by City saw an effort go just past the post.

In the 61st minute, Spurs were presented with a golden opportunity to draw level. Soldado was tripped on the edge of the box, another penalty was awarded. Soldado took it but Hart saved, diving low to his right. Having squandered this chance, 6 minutes later in a quick break, Rose failed to clear the ball and when a cross was played in Fazio pulled Aguero back and a fourth penalty was awarded. Fazio was then sent off even though he wasn’t the last man nor was it a clear goalscoring chance. Aguero made sure, sending Lloris the wrong way, and at 3 – 1 and down to 10-men Spurs chance of getting something from the game was gone.

Tottenham were looking to get to the final whistle with damage limitation as their main aim. In the 74th minute, from a free-kick inside their own half City found Aguero who cut into the area to make it four.

Spurs kept at it but the damage had been done and it was a relief to hear the final whistle. City were the better team but once again in a match against a top team, individual errors proved costly in defence and attack and again , for the 4th time in the last 7 games against top-4 teams, Spurs finished with a man short.