Tottenham shows toughness, takes three points from Manchester City

Tottenham Hotspur showed that preseason was no smokescreen as the Spurs went toe to toe with the champions and took all three points from Manchester City.

Tottenham Hotspur looked like they might be getting back to top form in the preseason. The preseason is much different than the regular season, particularly if you are playing the defending champions in the opener. However, Tottenham grew into the match and took all three points from Manchester City in a huge 1-0 win to open the season.

Spurs worked to set the tone early

Within the first 90 seconds of the game, Davinson Sanchez had hit two long balls to stretch the defense and Japhet Tangaga had crunched Raheem Sterling with a physical tackle on the wing. Despite the immense pressure from Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur was setting the tone that they were neither going to back down from the champions nor give them a free inch in their own half of the pitch.

As City looked to establish some early dominance through possession and fouls drawn by Jack Grealish, they were never able to get a clear sight of the goal, as Tottenham was organized and aware. The structure and shape of Tottenham’s 4-3-3 kept City out of the most dangerous places in the middle of the pitch and worked to frustrate the Sky Blues in the first half.

Tottenham grew in confidence and into the match

City crossed the ball from side-to-side but the Spurs stayed in position and on their marks not allowing any easy looks. Tanganga continued to be physical with both Grealish and Sterling to the point Anthony Taylor had a little conference with the young defender and Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris.

As Tanganga set the tone, the midfield followed suit, with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Oliver Skipp, and Dele Alli all putting in strong, physical shifts. The more Tottenham fought back, the more frustrated the Cityzens grew.  As the City grew more frustrated, Tottenham grew more confident and into the match.

As the Spurs’ confidence grew, so did the precision of their counterattack and their play on the ball. It took a swift block with his backside by Joao Cancelo to prevent Son Heung-Min from scoring on the best chance of the first half.

As half-time came, the momentum seemed to be shifting slightly as Spurs hung tough taking six shots to 8 from Manchester City. Tottenham’s quick work on the counterattack was working and City was not in total control.