On Saturday night, we saw Tottenham Hotspur pull off what was surely their most impressive win of the Ange Postecoglu era, as they beat Manchester City 4-0 in their own backyard. Let’s discuss what happened.
Going into the game, Spurs were pretty handicapped. They were without both first choice central defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero. The rest of the starting XI was generally first choice, though depth off the bench such as Richarlison and Wilson Odobert were not available, and seemingly won’t be for a fair while.
Some of the talking points from Saturday evening's victory
Yet, Spurs were able to pull off such a win. City did have some presentable opportunities, namely to Erling Haaland. Yet, even then, they weren’t absolutely clear, guilt edged opportunities.
No doubt that the Spurs fanbase had hearts in mouths for each opportunity, but that is part and parcel of the emotional side to being a football fan. A neutral watching the game would have not seen those chances in the same way. Perhaps a bit more than ‘half chances’, but certainly no sitters in there.
The best chance City had was probably the one Haaland had in the closing stages, having been found by substitute Kevin De Bruyne. Yet even then, the striker still had to open his body up a crazy amount, and it was from a slight angle.
Compare that to James Maddison being as free as a bird to stab home from a Dejan Kulusevski cross. Or the midfielder being one-on-one to score from Heung-Min Son’s pass. Then you have Pedro Porro’s goal – not as clear cut as those two – followed by Johnson scoring from half a yard out. Better chances.
Just an incredible collective effort from all eleven starters and all of the substitutes. Brennan Johnson scoring off the bench, Timo Werner assisting off the bench. Ange’s brilliant tactical plan. Eyebrows were raised when Kulusevski started the game on the wing, but it worked perfectly. The Swede was absolutely immense, and but for a bit of better luck, would have made it four goals in four appearances at the ‘Dekihad’.
Players like Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin, who would have had fans gulping at the prospect of them facing Erling Haaland, did a really superb job. For all criticisms of Davies in the past, he is most definitely a reliable pro, someone who gets on with his task without any fuss.
Not to say that the Welshman has never had a bad moment, or game, in his long Spurs career - but he is not someone who often has an "absolute stinker" as such, most of his issues simply come from someone who isn't suited to playing in a high line. On the ball, and as a pure defender, he is generally pretty good.
Plus, he was fine in a high line here. So was Dragusin, who really needed this display. A clean sheet will have done him the world of good after the Qarabag and Galatasaray games in particular. He is going to be needed in the coming weeks, so this is really encouraging to see. Shoutout to every single player tonight, but especially those two.
Football fans love to say ‘X quirk could only happen to us’, or ‘X thing is the most (insert club) thing ever’. Usually, it’s nonsense, and it happens to most sided. However, in this case, you truly believe only Spurs could give Ipswich Town their first win of the season, and then beat City 4-0.
In fact, beating City, then Aston Villa, before defeats to Galatasaray and Ipswich, and then beating City AGAIN. Just wow. So, so Tottenham. It just is.
What a win, what a team, what a manager. Please just keep this up. Onto AS Roma. COYS.