Even in the first game after Pep Guardiola’s contract extension, Manchester City were unable to end their sporting crisis: the 4-0 defeat against Tottenham was their fifth defeat in a row. It also ended a long home winning streak.
Since a 2-1 defeat to Brentford on November 12, 2022, in the last game before the World Cup in Qatar (!), Manchester City had not lost in 52 competitive games at home at the Etihad Stadium. This impressive home run ended on a memorable Saturday night against Tottenham. The Spurs had started City’s unprecedented run in the League Cup under Guardiola weeks ago. On matchday 12, they inflicted the champions’ fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Haaland misses early chances
In the opening minutes of the game, before the still-absent Rodri presented his Ballon d’Or in the center circle, City still looked like a team that had some work to do. And who knows how the evening would have gone if Haaland had converted one of two good chances. But first the Norwegian took too long to finish after an unclean ball reception in the penalty area (5th, Davies still faked), then he found his master in Spurs goalkeeper Vicario after strong work by Savinho (11th, foot defense).
And then suddenly everything changed. After a long clearance from his own half, Kulusevski beat Gvardiol far too easily and lifted the ball from the right corner of the box into the path of Maddison, who was running through on goal, and he scored from a few yards out to give his side a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Gvardiol was once again involved when the England international, who had not started twice before the international break, was able to double the lead shortly after on his 28th birthday. This time, he was even bigger.
Put under pressure early in the build-up, the Croatian played a catastrophic bad pass right to Maddison in his own penalty area. The England international played the ball to Son, who played it back perfectly. The finish with a lob was ambitious – 2:0 (20′). And it could have been even worse for the champions, whose defense had huge holes: Ederson deflected Son’s shot over the bar with his fingertips (28′).
On the other side, a carelessness by Pedro Porro went unpunished because Savinho was unable to control the ball after a poor header return and Vicario was there to clear, as he often was that evening (38′).
Outstanding Kulusevski sets the ball rolling
Shortly after the restart, the next City defeat finally took shape: the strong Kulusevski easily asserted himself in midfield. The fact that his cross towards Solanke was a bit too far was not important. The attacker set up Pedro Porro, who scored to make it 3-0 (52). Nothing could be heard in the stadium except for the sound of the away fans.
Anyone expecting a great fightback from Guardiola’s charges was in for a disappointment. Even a Haaland shot on the top edge of the crossbar (60th) failed to wake the home side up, and their offensive display remained unusually lifeless – and that against a Spurs defense missing key players with the injured Romero and van de Ven, as well as the suspended Betancur. In fact, Ederson even made a strong save to prevent a fourth goal against Kulusevski (66′).
It was only after the (much too late) introduction of Grealish and De Bruyne (74th minute) that City’s efforts picked up a little. But Vicario was on the spot against Gündogan (77th minute) and a little later against Haaland (80th minute), whose shot he parried outstandingly with a rapidly rising arm.
Werner collects scorer points after substitution
That’s how Spurs finally made the humiliation of the champions perfect in injury time. After a hair-raising Grealish bad pass, substitute Werner sped up and crossed towards the second post, where Johnson slid in to make the 4-0 final score (90.+3).
After the fifth defeat in a row in competitive games, City are in danger of losing their title hopes early on. With a win in Southampton, Liverpool FC could extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points. And next Sunday, the champions, who face Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday, will then have to play in the top game at Anfield.
