Match Report: City 4 - 1 Tottenham

In a rampant start to the match it was City who would take the early lead from an Aguero goal where he got in the box, held the ball up and created enough space to get a shot from a tough angle that only he could score. It wasn’t all good for the Citizen’s after that goal because Tottenham brought the teams back level, quickly, after the Aguero goal. A slip from Fernando saw the Brazilian lose the ball in the Tottenham half of the field and Spurs took full advantage as Christian Erikson fired a rocket that Hart could only get a hand to before finding the back of the net. And that’s when everything got just a bit more interesting. Before the end of the first half City were awarded two penalties with one being converted and the other saved by Lloris when Aguero fired the ball down the center of the net, but the Frenchman got just enough on it to keep it from going in. With Aguero missing the second penalty, Tottenham had the life line needed heading into the break as both teams were evenly matched and anything could happen in the final 45 minutes.

With the onus on Tottenham to get an equalizer, the Spurs began to counter with ferocity in the second half and they had their best chance after being awarded a penalty for a challenge by Demichelis on Soldado. The Spaniard, who has struggled since his early success in the Premier League last season, stepped up, very cautiously, an tried to tuck the ball into the lower left corner, but Hart made a terrific read and made the stop keeping the game at 2-1. In the 68th minute, the game saw it’s fourth penalty of the game as Aguero was fouled by Federico Fazio who was subsequently sent off for his foul in the box. This time Aguero stepped up, picked his side and made sure it found the back of the net for his hat trick, putting City up 3-1. Minutes after his third, Aguero capped of his Man of the Match performance with his fourth of the day and what a beauty of a shot it was! In a similar position to his first goal, but on the opposite of the box, Kun curled a lovely left footed shot past the out stretched Lloris in to the lower left corner, 4-1, game, City.

The scoreline may not be indicative of how Tottenham played, but it was a game you could see City had in their hands. Both defenses, though, looked very skeptical at times and if it weren’t for some timely clearances and great saves by both goalkeepers, the scoreline could have been much higher. As a whole, coming off a international break with players all featuring for their respective countries, it was a great result with an important Champions League match to take place in three days time in what will seem like a practice facility like atmosphere at CSKA Moscow.

It is easy to pick Aguero as Man of the Match, but the likes of James Milner, Jesus Navas and Joe Hart had splendid games for City and it was an important game for them to show their quality. The biggest turning point in the game was the save by Joe Hart on a penalty, which the foul occurred outside of the box, because not only does the momentum quickly changes jersey’s but that kept City ahead and confidence riding high, especially for Hart.