Tottenham 3 Manchester City 0:THIS TOTTENHAM Hotspur victory came with a simplicity that must leave Manchester City in a tangle of anxiety. Some players may have been absent, but there was also a tameness that indicates a lack of appetite or a frustration over their style of play. The danger is that they will not maintain the momentum to realise their grand ambitions.
Although Emmanuel Adebayor missed from close range near the end for City, it was the uncomplicated purpose of the victors that separated the sides.
The budget sets Manchester City apart from virtually everyone else, but there was still a kinship with these opponents. Each has had cause for encouragement while appreciating that they should have done better still. Mark Hughes’ sense of irony may not have been profound enough for him to appreciate that the sole interruption to a run of eight draws was a win over the league leaders, Chelsea.
It did look initially as if both teams believed they were capable of the goals that would bring a morale-enhancing victory, although City then drifted into a period of blandness. Tottenham’s urgency was more marked and manager Harry Redknapp had demoted Robbie Keane to the bench so Jermain Defoe could be paired instead with Peter Crouch.
Both sets of players seemed exasperated with themselves and could not muster the poise to complement their competitiveness. Promising avenues were turned into dead ends in the opening half-hour.
Aaron Lennon was one of the few figures who looked, even in those exchanges, as if he would be incisive. It must have egged on this swift winger that his main opponent was a veteran left-back, Sylvinho. The impending damage could have been anticipated when Wilson Palacios released Lennon and Defoe utterly miscued.
It was entirely logical that an opener after 38 minutes should stem from that unequal contest. Lennon lofted the ball in and Crouch’s header bounced off the chest of Stephen Ireland to allow Niko Kranjcar to shoot home the rebound.
Crouch himself was clear soon afterwards but Shay Given blocked from an angle.
Whatever the flaws, there had been an intent to Tottenham’s work that was not echoed by the visitors. The blandness of City appeared to increase. They were in a familiar 4-2-3-1 system, but the lone centre-forward, Adebayor, was isolated. The visitors sorely missed Craig Bellamy’s readiness to go haring into the attack.
There were no conundrums for Tottenham once they were in front. The lead was extended by wholly unsophisticated means when goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes thumped the ball downfield. Crouch outjumped Nedum Onuoha and, with Kolo Toure unable to intercept, Defoe converted his partner’s header with a first-time finish.
There was an ineffectual tone to the visitors and the fixture seemed to be alien to figures such as the record signing Robinho, who was replaced by Roque Santa Cruz.
The old-fashioned strengths of Redknapp’s line-up were underlined in the process. Following the concession of a second goal, City worked the ball around with a higher tempo, but it also had to be borne in mind that Tottenham could afford to be more cautious.
Adebayor did have an opening of sorts on the edge of the 18-yard line slightly to the right but his drive flew high. He and others were once more attempting to make up for the number of goals conceded by their defence.
Hughes sent on the winger Martin Petrov with 20 minutes to go but despite a sharp late shot he could not reverse City’s fortunes. It was Kranjcar who found the net, skipping past Adebayor before putting the ball through Given’s legs.
City can only flourish when they come up with the means to resist.
TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto (Bale 90), Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Kranjcar, Defoe (Jenas 90), Crouch. Subs not used: Alnwick, Hutton, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Modric. Booked: Palacios, Kranjcar.
MANCHESTER CITY: Given, Richards, Onuoha, Toure, Sylvinho, Ireland, De Jong (Petrov 71), Barry, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho (Santa Cruz 59). Subs not used: Taylor, Zabaleta, Mwaruwari, Kompany, Weiss. Booked: Sylvinho, De Jong, Tevez.
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).
