TOTTENHAM 2-2 MAN CITY: Dominic Solanke scores twice as Spurs put miserable first half behind them to clinch a point and derail Pep Guardiola's stuttering title ambitions
Twenty one months on from the game Tottenham wanted to lose they produced an incredible fightback. And by the end, the Tottenham fans were giving their players a standing ovation while the Manchester City players trudged off in utter despair.
To say this was one of the most bizarre games you are likely to see just does not begin to do it justice. Tottenham were so bad in the first half. Embarrassingly so. Then they were warriors in the second half.
You might remember it was two seasons ago when swathes of Spurs fans wanted to lose to City in this fixture in the penultimate game of the season to stop Arsenal winning the title. This time they ended up doing their bitter rivals Arsenal a huge favour because it meant City dropped two points to leave Mikel Arteta’s men six clear at the top.
But this was about Tottenham. And maybe, just maybe, it can be the turning point Thomas Frank needed because they were on their knees and depleted by injuries.
Yet two-goal Dominic Solanke was sensational in front of England boss Thomas Tuchel. And Xavi Simons produced an incredible performance of super human proportions. For someone so small, he played like a giant.
And the losers were City. They were so comfortable in the first half that Sky pundit Gary Neville described it like a Soccer Aid charity match. Tottenham were not even in the contest. But, by the end, it was more points dropped for City. Incredibly, they have now dropped seven points from goals conceded in the second half from January 1.
It was a decade to the day that Pep Guardiola was named as City boss. And, as good as they are at times going forward, they have vulnerability not just in defence but in the way they drop points.
This is a million miles away from a classic City side. They have got sensational players and may still end up winning the title. But they never used to give opponents a chance. They handed a point to Spurs - and gave Arsenal even a huge helping hand.
Let’s not forget that Tottenham were so depleted that they were missing 11 players through injury and Radu Dragusin was making his first start in 371 days. And it showed. They were woeful in the first half. Patched-up and not even competitive.
City were ahead after just 11 minutes and the goal was littered by Spurs mistakes. Yves Bissouma’s clearance went straight to Bernardo Silva. Erling Haaland fed Rayan Cherki and Dragusin stood off and gave the City playmaker way too much space to pick his spot and the shot was deflected past Guglielmo Vicario who maybe should have done better.
Cherki could have got another before Antoine Semenyo put them two-up before half time. Dragusin’s poor ball out of defence went straight to Rodri. Bernardo Silva set up Semenyo who fired home. The boos started.
It looked over. But Frank hooked Cristian Romero, brought on Pape Matar Sarr and went to a back four and they matched City’s shape - and their fight. Destiny Udogie saw a thunderous shot brilliantly saved by City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. But it gave Spurs hope.
Solanke battled for the ball, stayed just onside and then threw himself into a tussle in the City box. Solanke actually kicked through the back of Marc Guehi. It was eventually given as Solanke’s goal.
More was to follow. Conor Gallagher drove forward down the right, his cross found Solanke who improvised brilliantly and, with the ball behind him, somehow performed a spectacular scorpion kick to get the ball past Donnarumma. It was an incredible goal.
Tottenham could have scored again. Simons and Wilson Odobert were both denied by brilliant Donnarumma saves. City stormed forward, laid siege and but did not manage a shot on target in the second half. What a result for Tottenham and all of North London.