At the end of the 14th matchday in the Premier League, Manchester City only drew for the third time in a row. In the turbulent 3-3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, Kulusevski shocked the champions with the equalizer in the 90th minute. Afterwards, a controversial refereeing decision led to discussions
City have not managed more than two draws in the league recently, and after Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Wolverhampton on Saturday, the home side desperately needed a win of their own to keep pace with the Gunners. City coach Pep Guardiola made three changes after the 3-2 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League during the week: Regular keeper Ederson as well as Alvarez and Doku for Ortega Moreno, Lewis and Grealish returned to the first eleven.
Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou made just one change to his starting line-up from the previous week’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, their third defeat in a row. Bissouma, who was recently suspended, replaced Bentancur.
The top match at the end of matchday 14 lived up to its promise from the very first minute. City went full throttle, pressed extremely high, put Tottenham under pressure and forced them to win the ball quickly, sometimes deep in the opponent’s half. Doku created the first good chance after one of these in the 6th minute.
Following the subsequent corner, however, Spurs gave the treble winners an ice-cold shock. Son was sent on the counter-attack, asserted himself in the penalty area and scored to make it 1:0 (6′). It was the visitors’ first shot on goal after a dominant opening phase by City. However, the home side struck back with lightning speed – albeit with a little luck. Son unfortunately deflected a free-kick from Alvarez into his own goal (9′).
Foden turns the game around – twice aluminum for City
The game continued just as turbulently as it began. Haaland missed a great chance to take the lead (13′), after which Tottenham got into the game better and started to make some early moves themselves. That opened up space for the Skyblues.
Doku, for example, had too much space on the left and his shot into the top right corner crashed against the crossbar and post and then out (30′). Things went better just a little later when the Spurs defense was too far away from their opponents and Foden finished off a good combination in the penalty area via Doku and Alvarez to take the lead (31′).
The next highlight in an entertaining first half came from Alvarez, who hit the post with a low shot in the 36th minute. City went into the half-time break with a deserved lead that could have been higher
Tottenham equalize twice
Only a few seconds after the restart, Vicario made a disastrous mistake in the build-up, but made up for his error with a strong flying save from Bernardo Silva’s shot (46′).
The game then calmed down somewhat, with City too imprecise in attack at times to be really dangerous. Then a mistake crept in for the home side. Tottenham disrupted the Citizens’ build-up play, Lo Celso picked up the ball himself and shot low to the left (69′). Shortly afterwards, his long-range shot was deflected just wide of the goal (72′).
Grealish replied a good ten minutes later. City had stepped up the pressure again and the joker scored again after the home side won the ball and switched quickly. The winning goal? Not with Kulusevski. After a cross from Johnson, the 23-year-old beat Aké in a one-on-one battle in the air and powered the ball into the net with his head (90′).
City feel disadvantaged: Fierce discussions with Hooper
City reacted to the renewed shock with furious attacks, but it was a decision by referee Simon Hooper that received the most attention. In stoppage time, Haaland was fouled by Emerson Royal in midfield, but the Norwegian went straight on and sent Grealish in with a long ball. Hooper initially even indicated an advantage, but then blew his whistle to thwart the Citizens’ attack – Grealish would probably have been through. There was no offside in the scene.
In the end, it remained 3-3 and thus the English champions’ third draw in a row. The gap to league leaders Arsenal is now three points. After the final whistle, there were heated discussions between Haaland and referee Hooper. Tottenham, on the other hand, were delighted with their first point after three defeats in a row
Both teams have no respite in the Premier League. The Citizens already have to face Aston Villa on Wednesday (9.15pm). Tottenham host West Ham United on Thursday
