Heading into this away clash in North London, Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City had tasted the bitter blow of back-to-back defeats in the Champions League and the Premier League.
But, the reigning top-flight champions got back to winning ways against Ange Postecoglou’s up-and-down Spurs courtesy of an early Erling Haaland strike.
Haaland was the difference-maker on the night, but there were other lively performers that guided the still bruised away side to a much-needed victory.
Man City’s best performers vs Spurs
It’s only fair to wax lyrical about Haaland’s clinical display first, with the 24-year-old now up to 20 strikes for the season in the league after this winner.
With only 12 minutes on the clock, the returning Norwegian would confidently place an effort past Guglielmo Vicario, after some terrific work from Jeremy Doku found the lethal finisher ready to pounce.
Doku was another standout performer in the attacking positions with the slick Belgian impressively pulling off four successful dribbles, on top of also committing himself to duels as a livewire on the left with six ground duels bravely won.
Whilst both Doku and Haaland excited the away masses in the forward areas, the travelling contingent packed into Spurs’ home ground would have been relieved with the efforts of Ederson between the sticks, with the Brazilian shot-stopper tallying up six big saves as Postecoglou’s hosts regularly surged forward.
In-front of the City number one, there were also some valiant faces in the back four, with a promising centre-back stealing the limelight when grinding out a win and clean-sheet combo.
Man City have found a new “cheat code”
It’s clear that Guardiola will have to oversee an overhaul this approaching summer if he wants City to be back amongst the league’s elite next season, instead of settling for their current flat mediocrity in fourth position.
Already, bits and pieces have been added to freshen up the machine, however, with the £33.6m purchase of 20-year-old defender Abdukodir Khusanov in January going down mainly as a treat so far.
The former Lens man did look somewhat ropey during his top-flight debut against Chelsea back in late January, but everything will be a learning process still for the 6 foot 1 youngster who will have had his confidence boosted after the Spurs win.
Indeed, at the full-time whistle, his manager hailed his quality on the ball as “outstanding”, with Khusanov slowly but surely becoming undroppable in the Spaniard’s eyes if he keeps these top-drawer displays coming.
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Khusanov’s performance in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Khusanov |
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Touches |
56 |
|
Goals conceded |
0 |
|
Accurate passes |
41/48 (85%) |
|
Key passes |
1 |
|
Accurate long balls |
3/7 |
|
Clearances |
4 |
|
Interceptions |
1 |
|
Tackles |
2 |
|
Total duels won |
2/3 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
Looking at the table above, the performance was an assured one from the 20-year-old constantly growing in confidence, with just seven misplaced passes registered from 48, on top of winning two tackles and two duels to preserve his side’s clean sheet.
Hailed as a “cheat code” by football journalist Lloyd Scragg for the speed at which he’s able to recover, it looks as if the future is very bright for Khusanov at the Etihad as a new dawn looms on the horizon for the Citizens.
Handed a high 8/10 rating at full-time by GIVEMESPORT, the raw defender will hope he just gets better and better as the season progresses, with Guardiola’s men hopeful as well that this win can see them put together a positive patch of form away from their new defensive hero.
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