Tottenham Hotspur had started their Premier League campaign with a splendid 3-0 win over Burnley at home last weekend. Coming to the Etihad Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur had to put their best foot forward
to compete against the mighty Manchester City, who have an impressive record at their home stadium. The visitors did just that in an exciting and engaging match for the fans, using their build up play and fearlessness to defeat Manchester City 2-0.
Both the teams started the game on a relatively high note, with Tottenham continually pressing the defence of Manchester City. Waves of pressure was put on Manchester City’s new goalkeeper James Trafford, who was making his debut at the Etihad. Spurs managed to keep possession a lot which did not allow City to build the momentum. City’s left-back Ait-Nouri suffered an injury during the first 20 minutes due to which Pep Guardiola had to make an injury replacement by subbing on Nathan Ake in place of him.
Man City’s goalkeeper James Trafford has a night to forget following a poor goalkeeping display
The scoring for Tottenham Hotspur started from a build-up play with Richarlison, who whipped it hard and low across the box before Brennan Johnson capitalised, to make it 1-0 in the 35th minute. The goal was initially not given as the linesman claimed it was offside. However, the decision was then reviewed by the VAR before it was declared onside, which led to the loudest of eruption from the Tottenham Hotspur fans.
Manchester City gave it their all to equalise in the first half, however, they were not able to create clear opportunities at goal before their hopes were shattered when newly recruited goalkeeper James Trafford made an indecisive call. He played a tight pass towards his teammate, who was pressured by the Tottenham attackers. It led to the ball being lost by the defender before Portuguese midfielder Joao Palhinha dispatched a powerful strike into the back of the net, to make it 2-0 for Tottenham Hotspur in the first half added time.
To the disbelief of everyone at the Etihad Stadium, Palhinha got his first goal for the new club after signing with them on loan from Bayern Munich. City made various changes in the second-half to push for goals, however, Spurs stood their ground for a win and took three points away from home in the Premier League under new manager Thomas Frank.
