This Sunday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Spurs hosted Man City in matchday 25 in the Premier League. And we can say that the Penalty curse keeps haunting Man City, as the Blue team led by Pep Guardiola missed yet another pen.
And this time, it wasn’t even Gabriel Jesus. It was Ilkay Gundogan, who missed a first-half penalty that proved to be costly, as Spurs went on in the second half to make it 2-0.
Tottenham’s goals were scored by Bergwijn – who scored his first goal as a Spurs player -, and South Korean Son Heung-Min.
However, with all of this, the scoring could have been way different.
In the first half, Guardiola’s side dominated Jose Mourinho’s Spurs and deserved to go half-time with at least a goal-lead. Raheem Sterlin, Bernardo Silva, and others wasted too many opportunities.
Their best chance was, of course, the penalty, but goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was there to deny Gundogan’s low shot at the left corner.
It was the second time that Man City wasted a penalty at Tottenham’s brand new Stadium, which later would prove to be costly. If we rewind to last season, it was Sergio Aguero who wasted a first-half penalty in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. It was in the first half of the 1st leg game, and the Cityzens were eliminated by a goal difference at the Etihad Stadium in a game full of VAR controversies.
Maybe it’s time for them to think about making goalkeeper Ederson the official penalty taker, as the strikers can’t convert from the spot.
Then, later in the second half, the Spurs took control of the game and opened the scoring through Bergwijn. He controlled the ball with his chest and struck a first-time effort at Ederson’s corner to open the scoring at the Tottenham Stadium.
Later, it was time for Son to receive a deep pass in the final third and strike a shot – which deflected off Fernandinho’s boots – straight to the low corner.
With the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, Manchester City saw Liverpool go 22 points clear in the table, and even the players admit that they will fight to keep the second place instead of trying to chase the leaders.
As for Tottenham, they keep dreaming with a UEFA Champions League spot next season, as they moved up to 5th place, with 37 points, four behind 4th-placed Chelsea.