Harry Kane became Tottenham Hotspur’s all-time leading scorer as the Lilywhites of ten gave Arsenal a huge boost in their Premier League title run with a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
Referee: Andrew Madley
The England captain outplayed Jimmy Greaves to score the 267th goal for Spurs, who were left without Antonio Conte in the first half after surgery, and the hosts overcame Christian Romero’s final red card, ending the curse of champions at Tottenham Hotspur.
The local players did not justify their money on the first substitutions as City surprisingly controlled the ball without advancing.
However, lone errors cost Tottenham two goals at the Etihad Stadium last month, and Pep Guardiola’s side clearly didn’t learn their lesson when Kane conceded his record-breaking goal.
With 15 minutes left, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg intercepted a pass from Rodri to Rico Lewis just outside the Man City penalty area. He walked down the court before passing the ball to Kane.
The England captain coolly slipped into the bottom corner, passed Greaves and scored Tottenham’s 267th goal, his 200th Premier League goal.
Along with Wayne Rooney (208) and Alan Shearer (260) at this exclusive club, Kane also doubled the top 100 in the fastest time. He played 304 games after Shearer and Rooney hit milestones of 306 and 462 respectively.
Often overlooked by Erling Braut Haaland’s numerous runs, Manchester City only had one great chance to recover before half-time, when Riyad Mahrez shook the bottom of the crossbar after catching a cross from Jack Grealish in stoppage time.
However, Guardiola resisted calls to bring Kevin De Bruyne off the bench at half-time, but the Belgian was soon substituted for Mahrez in the 58th minute as Spurs were relatively easily contained.
De Bruyne created one of City’s best chances in the 64th minute by getting Julián Álvarez out of the box with a clean free-kick, but Eric Dier made a smart save before De Bruyne shot wide from a corner.
Manchester City’s two penalties were canceled and Kane got close to 268 for Tottenham after a quick counter-attack a few minutes later, but Ivan Perisic’s cross came just behind the striker.
As the game came alive, Alvarez landed a long shot straight into the far corner in the 68th minute as Tottenham returned to their counter-attacking prowess while the champions huffed and huffed from a miss.
Christian Stellini’s defensive line defended superbly, but their task became even more difficult in the 87th minute when Romero brought down Grealish and immediately received a second yellow card from referee Andy Madeley.
Tottenham had to endure five minutes of stoppage time with 10 players, but they did it masterfully to take their fifth consecutive victory over Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, drawing applause from the whites and reds in north London.
Conte’s men remain in fifth place but are now just one point behind Newcastle United despite playing a game more, while Manchester City are still five points behind leaders after beating Arsenal, who are one game behind.
Lineups:
Tottenham (3-4-2-1):
Lloris (c), Romero, Dier, Davies, Royal, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Perisic (Sessegnon 79), Kulusevski (Sanchez 88), Kane, Son (Bissouma 84)
Substitutes not used: Forster, Pedro Porro, Lenglet, Skipp, Danjuma, Richarlison.
Man. City (4-4-2):
Ederson, Walker (c), Akanji, Ake, Lewis, Rodrigo, Bernardo (Gundogan 84), Mahrez (De Bruyne 59), Grealish, Alvarez, Haaland.
Substitutes not used: Ortega Moreno, Dias, Phillips, Laporte, Gomez, Perrone, Palmer.
Scorers:
Bookings:
Red card:
Romero
Man of the Match : Harry Kane
Match Stats:
