Manchester City might have relinquished their title to Chelsea on Sunday, but that did not stop Manuel Pellegrini’s men from securing their 21st victory of the season, which took them up to second position in the league.
Sergio Aguero scored the only goal of the game, taking his goal tally to 22 for the current campaign. A single goal did not justify how entertaining the contest was at White Hart Lane.
Aguero consolidates Golden Boot lead
Aguero won the battle between Harry Kane and himself at White Hart Lane. Kane and Aguero were on 20 and 21 goals respectively, prior to Sunday’s kick-off. In a game that saw numerous chances at both ends, it was Aguero’s sole strike that proved to be the difference between the two sides. The Argentine had numerous opportunities to score throughout the match and so did the young Englishman Kane. Aguero will also argue that he should have won his side a penalty when Tottenham defender Federico Fazio appeared to have tripped the striker, who would have passed the ball into an open net had it not been for the tackle. Along with teammate David Silva, Aguero put on quite a show against Spurs, but he might be disappointed to only score the one goal. With only three games remaining, Aguero sits two goals clear of the second highest goalscorer Kane, and looks likely to clinch that coveted Golden Boot award.
City’s defensive problems
The absence of City skipper Vincent Kompany was quite evident in Sunday’s clash against Spurs. The central defensive pair of Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala looked lost and were exposed by Tottenham on far too many occasions from a City point of view. Spurs front man Kane himself could have scored at least a couple, after he managed to sneak behind the two defenders a few times. The communication gap between the two was clearly visible as they were caught off guard a number of times. Tottenham will be disappointed not to have scored, despite having 16 shots during the game. City will consider the signing of a defender as a top priority for next season.
Brilliant Hart
Joe Hart has proven time and again why he is England’s number one, by a long stretch. The City stopper put in yet another outstanding performance to claim his 12th clean sheet of the season. Hart has bailed out his central defenders on numerous occasions in the last few games and Sunday’s win over Spurs did not prove any different. The custodian was called into action frequently and he stood up to the task, each and every time. In particular, he pulled off a wonderful stop to deny Ryan Mason an almost definite goal. Mason broke City’s offside trap and found himself one-on-one with Hart. Even though Mason is not known for his goalscoring, he was still able to force some good work from the goalkeeper.
City’s title no more
City had to surrender their title even before their match had started as Chelsea’s 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace assured it of becoming this season’s league champions. Pellegrini’s men started the season as champions and would have hoped to retain their crown, come end of the season. But a string of poor performances, especially away from home, went away to costing them the title. The trophy will be handed to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge when the Blues play their last home game of the season against Sunderland.
City will look to forget this season as quickly as possible and turn their focus towards next season. Ending the season trophyless will surely dent the confidence of the Sky Blues, but with the talent present at the club and with a resilient manager in Pellegrini, no one can write off City to claim back the title next season.
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