2-1 v Manchester City - 14 February 2016 - Away

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 2

Manchester City

Manchester City

1

  • Iheanacho
    74'
Details
Match Number

7165

Opposition
Manchester city

Manchester City

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2015/16

Date

14th February 2016

Kick Off

16:15

Venue

City of Manchester Stadium

Attendance

54,551

Referee

Mark Clattenburg

League Position

2nd

Opposition League Position

4th

Opposition Form

LWWWDD

Weather at Kick Off

4.4° - Partly Cloudy

Facts & Milestones
  • 7129th overall match (3393 wins, 1573 draws, 2150 losses)

  • 5552nd competitive match (2490 wins, 1305 draws, 1757 losses)

  • team

    152nd match vs Manchester City (60 wins, 34 draws, 58 losses)

  • competition

    912th Premier League match (369 wins, 235 draws, 308 losses)

  • 6523rd match in England (3057 wins, 1469 draws, 1984 losses)

  • 15th match at City of Manchester Stadium (7 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses)

  • 7th consecutive match with a goal scored

  • 7th consecutive match without losing

  • Christian Eriksen's 24th birthday

  • There were 4 changes to the starting lineup from the last match.

Report

Tottenham moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Leicester as Christian Eriksen struck a late winner at fourth-placed Manchester City.

Visiting striker Harry Kane fired home from the spot in the second half after Raheem Sterling was controversially penalised for handball.

Yaya Toure struck a 20-yard free-kick against the bar before teenage substitute Kelechi Iheanacho levelled.

But Spurs earned a fifth league win in a row as Eriksen slotted in.

The Dane was played through on goal by substitute Erik Lamela to coolly finish, after Iheanacho had shot high into the net to restore parity.

Arsenal's win over leaders Leicester earlier in the day temporarily moved the Gunners into second place but Spurs have gone back ahead of their north London rivals on goal difference.

Manuel Pellegrini's side won 21 points from their opening nine league games but have claimed just 26 points from their subsequent 17 matches.

They are six points off the Premier League summit after losing two consecutive home league matches for the first time since December 2008, and have lost ground to Arsenal and Tottenham, who are in third and second respectively.

City know the gap is not insurmountable, having been eight points behind Manchester United in April 2012 before snatching the Premier League title on the final day.

But they are 11 points worse off than Leicester and Tottenham during this 17-game period and need to find form quickly.

City will point towards the penalty as a key moment against a Tottenham side who have not won a top-flight title since 1961.

Both sides struggled to create chances in a tight encounter but, despite Tottenham having more of the ball, the hosts will feel they deserved at least a point as David Silva scooped over late on.

Manchester City were absolutely furious at Mark Clattenburg's decision to penalise Sterling and you could understand why.

The England forward had turned his back as he jumped to block Danny Rose's cross, with the ball hitting him as he was looking the other way.

Former Wales and Leicester midfielder Robbie Savage told BBC Radio 5 live: "I think that is harsh, very, very harsh. It has hit him on the elbow."

However, in a match of few chances, City should ask questions defensively as they levelled before leaving themselves wide open seven minutes from time for Eriksen, on his 24th birthday, to win the match.

England manager Roy Hodgson was at the Etihad and would have welcomed the earlier news of scoring returns for Arsenal's Danny Welbeck and Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge.

In the first two games of the day, six of the nine goals scored had been netted by English players and his options before Euro 2016 were further demonstrated in Manchester as Kane scored his 16th Premier League goal of the season.

The 11.9km covered by England's 19-year-old midfielder Dele Alli was more than all but one of Manchester City's side, as he continues to impress, while compatriot Eric Dier, 22, was solid in the holding midfield role.

Another England forward, Sterling, was quiet for the most part for City, although he did almost break the deadlock with a volley that was bravely blocked by Rose early on.

Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini told BBC Sport: "It was a penalty that referee Mark Clattenburg wanted to sign for and he gave the sign. It was absolutely the wrong decision, it hit the back of Raheem Sterling then his elbow. Sterling was not even seeing the ball. It was the same referee in the first game where there were two clear goals in offside and we lost 4-1.

"It was the key moment that decided thee game; before that they did not shoot towards our goal and did not have any chances. We took the risks, the spirit of the team was good but it was not enough."

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino told BBC Sport: "I think that it was a game that was very important. You could feel it was not a normal game and a real test for us; for that we feel very pleased for the players.

"The mentality was good and a perfect performance against a team with a lot of quality players who are top class. Full credit to my players.

"From my point of view, I did not see the penalty incident. Sometimes in football it happens, it goes for you and against you in the season."

Timeline
Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Leicester city
25 15 8 2 47 27 20 53
2
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
25 13 9 3 45 19 26 48
3
Arsenal
25 14 6 5 39 22 17 48
4
Manchester city
25 14 5 6 47 26 21 47
5
Manchester united
26 11 8 7 33 24 9 41
6
Southampton
26 11 7 8 34 24 10 40
7
West ham united
26 10 10 6 40 31 9 40
8
Watford
26 10 6 10 29 28 1 36
9
Stoke city
26 10 6 10 27 32 -5 36
10
Everton
26 8 11 7 46 35 11 35
11
Liverpool
25 9 8 8 32 36 -4 35
12
Chelsea
26 8 9 9 38 36 2 33
13
Crystal palace
26 9 5 12 27 32 -5 32
14
West bromwich albion
26 8 8 10 24 32 -8 32
15
Afc bournemouth
26 7 7 12 30 44 -14 28
16
Swansea city
26 6 9 11 24 34 -10 27
17
Norwich city
26 6 6 14 30 50 -20 24
18
Newcastle united
26 6 6 14 27 49 -22 24
19
Sunderland
26 6 5 15 32 50 -18 23
20
Aston villa
25 3 7 15 20 40 -20 16
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Leicester city
26 15 8 3 48 29 19 53
2
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
26 14 9 3 47 20 27 51
3
Arsenal
26 15 6 5 41 23 18 51
4
Manchester city
26 14 5 7 48 28 20 47
5
Manchester united
26 11 8 7 33 24 9 41
6
Southampton
26 11 7 8 34 24 10 40
7
West ham united
26 10 10 6 40 31 9 40
8
Liverpool
26 10 8 8 38 36 2 38
9
Watford
26 10 6 10 29 28 1 36
10
Stoke city
26 10 6 10 27 32 -5 36
11
Everton
26 8 11 7 46 35 11 35
12
Chelsea
26 8 9 9 38 36 2 33
13
Crystal palace
26 9 5 12 27 32 -5 32
14
West bromwich albion
26 8 8 10 24 32 -8 32
15
Afc bournemouth
26 7 7 12 30 44 -14 28
16
Swansea city
26 6 9 11 24 34 -10 27
17
Norwich city
26 6 6 14 30 50 -20 24
18
Newcastle united
26 6 6 14 27 49 -22 24
19
Sunderland
26 6 5 15 32 50 -18 23
20
Aston villa
26 3 7 16 20 46 -26 16
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