Tottenham bounced back from a disappointing defeat against Crystal Palace by beating Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. Ange Postecoglou’s men knocked out the Citizens in a narrow 2-1 success.
Timo Werner opened the scoring inside the first five minutes of the clash after getting on the end of Dejan Kulusevski’s pass across the Citizens’ penalty area. The German winger fired a powerful shot past Stefan Ortega to send the home fans into euphoria against the English champions.
Pape Sarr doubled the hosts’ advantage before the half-hour mark with a shot from outside the 18-yard box. A quick corner resulted in Kulusevski picking out the midfielder on the edge of the area, and his low drive beat Ortega at the near post.
Pep Guardiola’s side pulled a goal back very late in the first-half through Matheus Nunes. The Portugal international fired home a first-time volley after some brilliant wing play from Savinho. It had been coming as the home side sat off following their two goals, but the home team held out in the second period.
Match Highlights
Tottenham Player Ratings
GK: Guglielmo Vicario – 6/10
Couldn’t do much as Nunes pulled one back on the stroke of half-time after being largely untested by the visitors until that point.
RB: Archie Gray – 5/10
Faced a tough test with a lot of the opposition’s attacking play coming down his side. The former Leeds United man didn’t track his runner as Nunes pulled a goal back. His passing wasn’t quite as strong as usual, but the home side did have to be patient against City.
CB: Cristian Romero – 6/10
Had a solid and quiet evening for the most part. Put in some strong challenges when needed to set the tone and was withdrawn seven minutes after the half-time break.
CB: Radu Dragusin – 6/10
Put in an impressive display alongside two different centre-back partners. Dragusin continually blocked crosses and shots with any body part necessary while looking comfortable enough at playing out from the back.
LB: Micky van de Ven – 5/10
Managed just over 10 minutes at left-back before being withdrawn through what looks to be a hamstring injury. His lunging challenge on Savinho could be costly for Postecoglou in the coming weeks.
CM – Pape Sarr – 7/10
As lively as ever in the engine room for the north London side. His brilliant first-time strike caught out Ortega and doubled his side’s advantage. Sarr played a huge part in Postecoglou’s side winning the midfield battle alongside Bentancur and Kulusevski.
CM – Rodrigo Bentancur – 7/10
Never stopped working and took the responsibility as the deepest of the three midfield players. Bentancur is cool under pressure and wins the ball back for his team in vital areas.
CM: Dejan Kulusevski – 9/10
A constant source of energy for the hosts. Kulusevski led the charge for Spurs before playing an inch-perfect pass to Werner for the opening goal. Picked up another assist with a short pass for Sarr’s goal. His driving runs caused all sorts of problems for the away team.
RW – Brennan Johnson – 7/10
A constant option for his teammates when they looked to break forward quickly. Johnson didn’t threaten the Citizens’ goal too often but he created space for others to capitalise on.
ST – Dominic Solanke – 6/10
Worked hard as the spearhead of the Tottenham attack. Looks to be growing into the role under Postecoglou but has yet to become a huge goal threat for his new club.
LW: Timo Werner – 7/10
Took his early goal well despite coming under pressure from the recovering defender. Worked hard down the left flank, utilising his pace on the counter-attack when possible. Almost scored a second on the break but fired wide of the far post.
SUB: Destiny Udogie – 5/10
Should have done better against Savinho, who breezed past him for Nunes’ goal. Replaced the injured Van de Ven after just 10 minutes and looked assured on the ball for the most part.
SUB: Yves Bissouma – 6/10
Picked up a booking shortly after coming on to replace the goalscorer, Sarr. Put in a lot of hard work in an attempt to retain the advantage. Saved his side with a late goalline clearance.
SUB: Ben Davies – 6/10
Did an admirable job at the heart of the defence after coming on for Romero.
SUB: Richarlison – 5/10
Didn’t have much of an impact on the game after his arrival other than miss a huge opportunity to seal the victory.
SUB: Mikey Moore – 6/10
Brought on for Johnson after impressing against FC Twente last week. Caused problems for the opposition down the right flank but didn’t quite get his final ball right.
Manchester City Player Ratings
GK: Stefan Ortega – 5/10
Given little opportunity to keep out Werner’s close-range effort. Thwarted the German 10 minutes later and kept cool when in possession of the ball. Reacted late to Sarr’s long-range strike as the Citizens fell two behind in the opening 45 minutes.
RB: Rico Lewis – 6/10
Saw a lot of the ball in the middle of the park in his inverted full-back role. Failed to keep up with Werner and could prevent the home side from taking the lead.
CB: John Stones – 5/10
Saw out the full 90 minutes but won’t want to see it back again any time soon. Stones didn;’t necessarily do anything wrong but the high-line of City was constantly exposed by the speed of the opposing attackers.
CB: Ruben Dias – 5/10
Originally named on the bench before replacing the injured Akanji, Dias had a tough time up against the physical presence of Solanke up front. City’s lack of pace in defence cost them as Spurs hit them on the break numerous times.
LB: Nathan Ake – 4/10
Not the return from injury Ake would’ve hoped for. The Netherlands international saw both of Spurs’ first-half goals come from down his side. On the ball, he didn’t put a foot wrong but he still looks short of match fitness understandably.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 4/10
An uncharacteristically sloppy performance from the German midfielder. Signs of overplaying were evident as Gundogan struggled to keep up with the energetic Kulusevski. Gave the ball away in a dangerous area but wasn’t punished.
CM: Nico O’Reilly – 5/10
Shook off an early knock that threatened to end his game in the first half. The youngster took responsibility and often dropped deep to pick the ball up from his defenders and get City going forward.
CM: James Mcatee – 6/10
Showed glimpses of his clever footwork but failed to get into many promising attacking positions. The youngster worked extremely hard in the middle of the park and proved he can compete at a high level.
RW: Savinho – 6/10
Showed what he’s capable of when he blitzed past Udogie to cross for Nunes’ goal. Spent a lot of the game recycling possession rather than trying to take on his man with the incredible burst of speed everyone knows he possesses. Disappointed to be forced off through injury.
ST: Phil Foden – 4/10
Found it difficult as the focal point. Foden’s first real chance came at the end of the first period when he sent a volley sailing over the crossbar. Neat touches and close control were the highlights of a disappointing outing for the Englishman.
LW: Matheus Nunes – 7/10
Was the liveliest of the Man City front line throughout. The Portuguese winger appears to have been given a new lease of life in his new left-wing role and made Spurs pay for some slack defending with a near post volley just before the break.
SUB: Josko Gvardiol – 5/10
Dealt with the Tottenham threat on the counter-attack better than Ake had in the first-half. Still, not the Croatian’s finest performance in a Man City shirt as he put one on a plate for Richarlison towards the end of the game.
SUB: Mateo Kovacic – 6/10
Looked a lot more assured than Gundogan in possession and got around the pitch a lot quicker. Kovacic was still overrun in the middle of the park on several occasions. as Kulusevski and co broke forward at will.
SUB: Bernardo Silva – 5/10
Expectations grew when the diminutive Portuguese playmaker stepped onto the field. However, Silva didn’t really make much of a difference for his team and even gave the ball away more often than usual.
SUB: Jacob Wright – 6/10
Almost found the back of the net with a wonderful curling effort, but the ball just whistled past the post.
SUB: Jahmai Simpson-Pusey – N/A
Brought on by Guardiola instead of Erling Haaland with the away team seeking an equaliser. Didn’t have a lot to do but got stuck in where possible.
Man of the Match
Dejan Kulusevski
The man who ran the show all night for Postecoglou’s side. Dejan Kulusevski looks like a completely different player in a central role. He’s given the licence to stray out wide when needed but his energetic style causes all sorts of problems for opposing midfielders.
Previously playing as a winger, the Swede may have found his permanent home in the middle of the park with his lung-busting runs forward coupled with a keen eye for a pass. Man City’s midfielders couldn’t cope with him at all.