LADS, IT'S MANCHESTER...CITYSLAYERS STRIKE AGAIN!
We've broken City. But let's not use that word right now.
What is it about the Madchester Scene that brings out the best in Spurs?
We’ve some notable triumphs at Old Trafford, including a 0-3 result in September that helped send Erik Ten Hag back to Holland. And after we knocked City out of the League Cup earlier this month, I chronicled our recent history of dealing blows to the sportswashing team dressed in sky blue. At this point, it’s not even a surprise when we do them.
But…0-4 at the Etihad? Sure, they’d lost four straight in all competitions; yet, paradoxically, they hadn’t lost a Premier League match in a long time. A very long time. Not since October 2021. Adele had the number 1 song in the land. NASA launched Lucy to explore the Trojan asteroids. Joe Biden was a frisky 81.
While Ben Davies and Radu Drăgușin deserve praise for keeping calm and holding a steady back line on Saturday, we also were fortunate that City executed so badly on the day. We surrendered 23 shots—yes, only 5 on goal, but some of the wayward shots came from the type of looks you never want to give players the caliber of Erling Haaland. If City had played up to the level they’re capable of, we might’ve been one or two down after ten minutes.
It might be said referee John Brooks helped establish some early momentum for the hosts by issuing a first-minute yellow card to Yves Bissouma for a challenge that, let’s just day, would likely draw merely a warning that early in any other match. How many times have we seen yellow while watching the other side kick out at James Maddison’s ankle up and down the pitch?
City came out with perhaps a different look than expected, as fullbacks Josko Gvardiol and Kyle Walker set up high, with Savinho and Phil Foden cutting inside from the wings. In these opening minutes, it seemed Haaland (a prolific scorer but not exactly the epitome of a complete forward) appeared to be actively pressing, especially when Davies had the ball. This did indeed produce some shaky moments and at least one out of touch from Davies. Perhaps Pep Guardiola had identified this as a trigger in his game plan. If so, once our boys found their way into the match, it seemed City lost their penchant for pressing and realized they were in for a day.
SPURS OF THE MOMENT: DEKI AND MADDERS
Drăgușin is, at this point, famously not famous for his passing, but his speculative long ball down the right led to the opening goal in the 13th minute. It wasn’t a perfect pass and Gvardiol should have handled it and might have if he hadn’t been up against Dejan Kulusevski on this day. I don’t think the City defender will have Deki on his Christmas card list. Our ginger from Sweden undressed Gvardiol to gain possession, then curled in a dream of an assist for James Maddison, who deftly volleyed it past Ederson.
It wouldn’t be the last time Deki had his way.
Madders was at it again in the 20th minute when he linked up with Son Heung-min on a give-and-go that resulted in a second goal, the stuff of chemistry that Sonny had once built with Harry Kane. Madders’ finish was deceptively difficult: a close watching of the replay revealed our no. 10 somehow got three quick touches on the ball in a tight space to set up his left-footed shot, an amazing display of intellect and instinct. In any other match, Madders would’ve taken USMOTM here for the way he took over the match with his brace.
Or maybe Deki would have. He was a bit of a surprise start in favor of Brennan Johnson on the right, an inspired selection by Ange, who surely knew we needed his muscle and ball retention against possession-mastering City. Indeed, Deki seems to be branding himself a Cityslayer. A half-hour into this match, I was already getting February 2022 or December 2023 Etihad vibes…
Deki was all over the field, and in one notable sequence that led to our third goal, he simply bulled his way through the City midfield in a way that recalled Mousa Dembele. What a player we have in #21.
UPSTATE SPURS MAN OF THE MATCH: VENOM
Although Guglielmo Vicario had 5 saves, it felt as if he’d had 10 in the first half alone. Vic kept us in the match and allowed us to play ourselves into it. Many of the saves were positional in nature—a skill in itself, no doubt—but he also seemed feisty from the start and ready for a fight.
Unfortunately, he and we have paid dearly for one of those saves. In the 38’ minute, Porro decided to do his best imitation of AVB-era Kyle Walker and unwisely attempted a headed back pass to Vic, one that Savinho ran onto and came close to chipping over our keeper. Venom lunged out to nullify the threat while managing to stay in his box…but he came down awkwardly on his right foot. Moments later, he took a seat on the pitch and was met with boos from the home supporters who suspected him of wasting time. (Is your form so good that we need to waste time against you, Citizens?)
After some treatment, he was back at it and soon had to deal with another poor decision from a teammate. Yves Bissouma, who otherwise played another strong and steady match, didn’t make things any easier on his keeper when he overhit a pass backward, forcing Vicario to angrily deflect it out of the air and out to Davies.
After the match, Venom’s post on IG announced he’d played the last 60 minutes of the match with a broken ankle that required surgery. He’s due to miss the next two months (at least).
…Meanwhile, my family was dealing with a health scare of our own. As the first half was coming to an end, we were racing out of the house to take our son to the ER because of a fever and sudden abdominal pain. Having suffered through a life-altering appendectomy four years ago, I wanted to get him checked out right away. It was a scary and stressful few hours, especially when he vomitted during check-in. But after the routine testing, he began to feel better. As we waited for the results, our son mentioned he’d noticed the TV in the waiting room had been showing the match and, by that point, we were up by three. This gave us something to be happy about. Ultimately, uhe medical team at the hospital didn’t find anything serious and said he was safe to go home. We were relieved to be back at home that night.
Something like that surely puts something like soccer in perspective. It’s perhaps for this reason I took the news about Vicario’s injury in stride.
Certainly, it’s easy for we supporters to overreact and say “Season over” because, well, that might not be an overreaction. Although Fraser Forster has performed solidly in a support role this season, he’s simply not a no. 1-calbier keeper anymore. We can be forgiven for thinking that losing Vicario at such an important time—which will include the usual holiday fixture congestion, the Carabao QFs, and important EL action—seriously hurts our chances at achieving much this season. I sincerely hope the club will be looking for keepers in the January window. Toward this end, Milo from The Game Is About Glory podcast is on the case. In the meantime, with Cuti, VDV, and now Venom missing, one wonders how we’ll be able to play out from the back as Angeball demands.
All I know is, when we concede our first goal with the Cream-like power trio of Forster/Davies/Drăgușin on the pitch, the footballing media will say it is because Ange is tactically naïve.
Nevertheless, Venom not only soldiered on heroically with a broken ankle but would bag a clean sheet. City kept shooting and kept failing to execute. Meanwhile, with just 42% of possession, we still seemed to be carving through Pep’s side like a Thanksgiving meal. slicing and dicing Pep’s setup at many times in the match.
We were rewarded with a third goal when Deki found Solanke, who calmly dished it for Porro’s runner. Our RB made some amends for the aforementioned back pass with one of his blue-plate specials drilled well past Ederson. In injury time, Timo raced past Walker and set up Johnson for another trademark back-post goal. At final whistle, the hosts had been shut out for the first time, the further into the season that any Premier League had gone with a consecutive scoring streak. The BBC admin was so sure City would score that he/she spotted the hosts one. I just wish City had extended Pep’s contract even further.
And do fuck off and cry more, Noel.
SO GOOD, SOLANKE
I really like Dom. I like the idea of having a strong, industrious striker who may never win a Golden Boot and doesn’t need to, as he is simply a good striker who fits into our system and does the little things that may not be reflected on the score sheet but certainly count toward the result. I think he has yet to achieve the kind of chemistry with Sonny & co. have, but he’s already a handful for opposing defenders. He did get off a nice shot from a tight space in the first half that just sailed wide, and when a pass to him from Sonny failed to come to him in stride, Solanke he nearly muscled his way into a free run at Ederson anyway. From a distance, the 27-year-old striker seems happy to be here and looks as if he’s fitting in more and more.
DRURY LANE
That’s my new name for the Etihad Campus. There are few pleasures in the game better than hearing Peter Drury provide color commentary for a Tottenham victory away to City. His call of Kane’s winner two years ago still inspires chills. And the on-air personality was in form on Saturday. This is Tottenham Utopia! They are flying away from the champions! Later: It’s four. It’s formidable. Take me back to the ER and inject it into my veins.
The only thing Drury got wrong? When he said, “Quite unforeseeable!” Nay, Peter; we saw it coming.
Next up for Not Allowed to Have Nice Things FC: We host Jose and Roma when we’re missing the heart of our defense because of course we do. Prediction: Jose will get booed and he won’t take it well.