Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City will not be able to reach the impossible poker of titles in England. The combination of Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup will continue to be a utopia after the cityzens lost against Tottenham Hotspur (2-1).
“I will play with the B team,” confessed the Santpedor coach before facing the round of 16 of a League Cup that he has won four times between 2018 and 2021. Guardiola started three homegrown players, surrounded by starters like Ilkay Gundogan. , Phil Foden, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Aké and Rico Lewis. Even so, Tottenham, who always give City a hard time, took a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes, a true rarity for the skyblues.
Those from London were in charge after 25 minutes with two goals, from Timo Werner and Pape Mate Sarr
The two goals were very different, the first came from a counterattack on the right side, launched by Archie Gray, followed by a backheel from Brennan Johnson and catalyzed by Dejan Kulusevski, who transported the ball to the area and put it to Timo Werner to shoot Stefan Ortega. The German finally made his debut as a scorer this season.
The second goal once again featured an assist from Kulusevski, but this time the Swede only had to give it to Pape Mate Sarr in front of the goal for the Senegalese to place a beautiful shot with a thread next to the post. Viewing the replay from behind, it would not have been surprising if Ortega thought the ball was going out, because he took a spectacular screw.
With 2-0 and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium vibrating, City closed the gap at the end of first-half stoppage time, when Matheus Nunes finished off a cross from Savinho at the far post. Nunes, until not long ago a residual player for City, has two goals and an assist in his last three games.
Pep Guardiola, during the match against Tottenham.
Shortly after, in the second half, the worst news came for those from Manchester, when Savinho hurt his ankle badly and, in tears, left the field on a stretcher. The Brazilian joined City’s extensive injury list, which includes Rodrigo Hernandez, Kevin de Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb.
The 2-1 was a short result for Tottenham, especially to resist Guardiola’s team for 45 minutes, but the reality is that the one that had the most chances in the final stretch was Ange Postecoglou’s team, since Stefan Ortega avoided the goals of Kulusevski, Johnson and Richarlison. The Brazilian, a few minutes from the end, was able to kill the game, but was unable to finish alone in front of Ortega after a faulty throw-in by Gvardiol.
Already in injury time, Yvess Bissouma took a point-blank shot from Matt O’Reilly on the goal line and Tottenham will be the one in the next round of the League Cup, where they will face Manchester United. Those from north London continue to dream of a trophy that will end a 16-year title drought, since the then team coached by Juande Ramos won this same competition in 2008.
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