Manchester City close gap at the top with thrilling comeback win over Spurs | Football News – Times of India
MANCHESTER: Manchester City got back to winning ways in thrilling style after coming from two goals down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 on Thursday, a victory that moved the champions to within five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Looking to avoid a third successive defeat in all competitions, City were sluggish from the off and went into the break two goals behind after Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal netted in quick succession at the end of the opening period.
Three goals in 12 second-half minutes, however, quickly turned the match on its head, as strikes from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, the Norwegian’s first in four appearances in all competitions, and Riyad Mahrez put City in front.
The goal took Haaland’s league haul to 22 for the season — the most by a City player in a single league campaign under Pep Guardiola, with 19 league games still left to play.
With the visitors chasing an equaliser down the other end, Mahrez added a late fourth to keep City well in the title race, five behind Arsenal having played one game more than the Gunners, while Spurs stay fifth, five points off the top four.
City had lost 2-1 at Manchester United last time out and when they went into the break 2-0 down, it appeared that Guardiola’s men were heading for successive league defeats for the first time since December 2018 as well as their third loss in a row to Tottenham.
The hosts were relatively untroubled by Spurs before Ederson’s poor pass to Rodri fell to Kulusevski, who slotted home.
Two minutes and eight seconds later, in first-half stoppage time, Spurs doubled their lead with Ederson again at fault as he failed to deal with Harry Kane’s cross and palmed the ball onto the head of Royal.
With their chances of a fifth league title in six seasons seemingly slipping away, City were a different proposition in the second half, with World Cup winner Alvarez quickly firing home from close range.
Haaland only had nine touches in the first half but only needed one more to level things up, heading home after Mahrez had nodded the ball into his path, before the Algerian drilled through Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to complete the turnaround.
While Spurs kept coming, they did not test Ederson again in the match, with another mistake, this time from Clement Lenglet, letting Mahrez in for the fourth, with the City forward finishing superbly to seal a hard-earned success. (Reporting by Peter Hall, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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AFP/SPO afp.com-20230119T232147Z-TX-PAR-OFY541/20/2023 04:51:00
fbl; ENG; Pr; ManCity; Tottenham; Guardiola; Kyle Walker; Dejan Kulusevski; Julian Alvarez; Riyad Mahrez; Emerson Aparecido; Joao Cancelo; Erling Braut Haaland; Kevin De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva; Josep Guardiola
Guardiola criticises Man City’s lack of hunger for more
Manchester, United Kingdom, Jan 19, 2023 (AFP) –
Pep Guardiola took aim at Manchester City’s players and fans for a lack of hunger to retain the Premier League despite coming from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 4-2 on Thursday.
City’s title hopes were hanging by a thread as they trailed to two goals in three minutes from Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal before half-time at the Etihad.
The champions roared back in the second period as three goals in 12 minutes from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez turned the game around.
Mahrez then sealed the win in the final minute to move City to within five points of Arsenal, who have a game in hand.
But that did not stop Guardiola launching an astonishing attack on what he sees as complacency after winning four Premier League titles in the past five seasons.
“We gave them the first goal and then the second goal is ridiculous,” said Guardiola.
“There’s nothing from the stomach, from the guts and we were lucky but if we don’t change we will drop points.”
Guardiola also called on more from the City support after his side were booed off at the break.
“They booed because we were losing,” added Guardiola. “Maybe it’s the same with our team, maybe we are so comfortable with winning four Premier Leagues in five years.”
Guardiola showed his displeasure even before kick-off as a number of key players from previous title triumphs were dropped to the bench, including Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker.
“We cannot deny how happy we are but we are far away from the team that we were,” said the City boss.
“I want a reaction from all the club, not just the players. We are a happy flowers organisation. I don’t want to be, I want to beat Arsenal. If we play that way, Arsenal will destroy us.”
Looking to avoid a third successive defeat in all competitions, City were sluggish from the off and went into the break two goals behind after Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal netted in quick succession at the end of the opening period.
Three goals in 12 second-half minutes, however, quickly turned the match on its head, as strikes from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, the Norwegian’s first in four appearances in all competitions, and Riyad Mahrez put City in front.
The goal took Haaland’s league haul to 22 for the season — the most by a City player in a single league campaign under Pep Guardiola, with 19 league games still left to play.
With the visitors chasing an equaliser down the other end, Mahrez added a late fourth to keep City well in the title race, five behind Arsenal having played one game more than the Gunners, while Spurs stay fifth, five points off the top four.
City had lost 2-1 at Manchester United last time out and when they went into the break 2-0 down, it appeared that Guardiola’s men were heading for successive league defeats for the first time since December 2018 as well as their third loss in a row to Tottenham.
The hosts were relatively untroubled by Spurs before Ederson’s poor pass to Rodri fell to Kulusevski, who slotted home.
Two minutes and eight seconds later, in first-half stoppage time, Spurs doubled their lead with Ederson again at fault as he failed to deal with Harry Kane’s cross and palmed the ball onto the head of Royal.
With their chances of a fifth league title in six seasons seemingly slipping away, City were a different proposition in the second half, with World Cup winner Alvarez quickly firing home from close range.
Haaland only had nine touches in the first half but only needed one more to level things up, heading home after Mahrez had nodded the ball into his path, before the Algerian drilled through Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to complete the turnaround.
While Spurs kept coming, they did not test Ederson again in the match, with another mistake, this time from Clement Lenglet, letting Mahrez in for the fourth, with the City forward finishing superbly to seal a hard-earned success. (Reporting by Peter Hall, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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AFP/SPO afp.com-20230119T232147Z-TX-PAR-OFY541/20/2023 04:51:00
fbl; ENG; Pr; ManCity; Tottenham; Guardiola; Kyle Walker; Dejan Kulusevski; Julian Alvarez; Riyad Mahrez; Emerson Aparecido; Joao Cancelo; Erling Braut Haaland; Kevin De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva; Josep Guardiola
Guardiola criticises Man City’s lack of hunger for more
Manchester, United Kingdom, Jan 19, 2023 (AFP) –
Pep Guardiola took aim at Manchester City’s players and fans for a lack of hunger to retain the Premier League despite coming from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 4-2 on Thursday.
City’s title hopes were hanging by a thread as they trailed to two goals in three minutes from Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal before half-time at the Etihad.
The champions roared back in the second period as three goals in 12 minutes from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez turned the game around.
Mahrez then sealed the win in the final minute to move City to within five points of Arsenal, who have a game in hand.
But that did not stop Guardiola launching an astonishing attack on what he sees as complacency after winning four Premier League titles in the past five seasons.
“We gave them the first goal and then the second goal is ridiculous,” said Guardiola.
“There’s nothing from the stomach, from the guts and we were lucky but if we don’t change we will drop points.”
Guardiola also called on more from the City support after his side were booed off at the break.
“They booed because we were losing,” added Guardiola. “Maybe it’s the same with our team, maybe we are so comfortable with winning four Premier Leagues in five years.”
Guardiola showed his displeasure even before kick-off as a number of key players from previous title triumphs were dropped to the bench, including Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker.
“We cannot deny how happy we are but we are far away from the team that we were,” said the City boss.
“I want a reaction from all the club, not just the players. We are a happy flowers organisation. I don’t want to be, I want to beat Arsenal. If we play that way, Arsenal will destroy us.”
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