Man City 2-3 Tottenham player ratings: King Kane blows Premier League title race wide open
Spurs beat Manchester City 2-3 at the Etihad to blow the Premier League title race wide open.
Here’s how the players rated at the Etihad Stadium:
Manchester City
Ederson – 6 – Too rash coming off his line for the first Spurs goal and too stuck to his line for Spurs’ third. Inbetween those two errors he did make one heart-stopping save from Kane.
Kyle Walker – 8 – Really good. A constant defensive safety valve against the Spurs break. Lost out on a back-post aerial duel for Kane’s winner, but he was never going to win that and needed his keeper’s help.
Ruben Dias – 5 – Stayed back in his own half and played Son onside for the Spurs goal and tracked the wrong man on Spurs’ winner. Not mistakes, per se, but far from the Portuguese’s best evening in a City short.
Aymeric Laporte – 5 – Struggled against the pace of the Spurs counter and completely lost Kane for Spurs’ second goal.
WWWWWWWWWWWWDWWL
Antonio Conte ends Pep Guardiola’s 15 game unbeaten streak in the Premier League.
Another last minute winner. ⏱ pic.twitter.com/V45q6r71fQ
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 19, 2022
Joao Cancelo – 8 – An impossibly brilliant dynamo in the first-half, involved in everything City did and drove the ball into key areas constantly. Faded in influence as the game wore on.
Rodri – 6 – Recycled possession superbly, but never managed to get to grips with Kane when the Englishman dropped deep.
Kevin De Bruyne – 7 – Fizzing killer balls into the box pretty much all night.
Ilkay Gundogan – 7 – Not quite at his dynamic best, but scored City’s first and pulled a great save out of Lloris.
Raheem Sterling – 6 – Very bright in the first-half, with Spurs unable to keep hold of him. His great cross led to City’s equaliser. Faded in the second-half and replaced by Walker.
Phil Foden – 5 – Mobile, driven, dynamic. But didn’t use the ball very well nor threaten goal enough.
Bernardo Silva – 5 – His movement was amazing and he was constantly in space but as with Foden he didn’t use the ball well.
Manchester City Substitutes:
Riyad Mahrez (for Sterling 68′) – 7 – Scored the penalty and generally caused trouble for Spurs.
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Spurs
Hugo Lloris – 6 – Awful mistake for City’s first equaliser. Somewhat made up for it with a superb save later.
Cristian Romero – 5 – Solid on the right side of the defence until the very end when his, understandably instinctive, handball conceded a penalty. However he rebounded from that to clear the ball from basically off his goal-line in the dying embers.
Eric Dier – 8 – An absolute rock at the heart of Spurs’ defence. Did nothing but hunt down crosses and passes and clear them. Really maturing into a colossus under Antonio Conte.
Ben Davies – 8 – Some great defensive interventions and outlet passes as well.
Emerson – 5 – Got diced up by Cancelo time and again. The only Spurs defender to look some way short of the required level.
Rodrigo Bentancur – 6 – Worked hard but didn’t really put enough into blocking City’s passing lanes off.
Tottenham have become just the fourth side to do the league double over Pep Guardiola’s Man City side:
◎ Chelsea (2016/17)
◎ Wolves (2019/20)
◎ Man Utd (2019/20)
◉ Tottenham (2021/22)And they did it with 95th minute winner. 🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/reX8c4etXd
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 19, 2022
Pierre Emile Hojbjerg – 7 – A hard-working, dogged display. Constantly put his body on the line and got stuck in to try and drive things forward and keep Spurs moving.
Ryan Sessegnon – 7 – Fared better than Emerson. Got stuck in.
Dejan Kulusevski – 8 – Worked hard. Nice finish to open the scoring and never stopped running, leading to his peach of a cross for the game-winner deep into added time. Not bad for his first start in a Spurs shirt!
Heung-min Son – 8 – Wonderful run and selfless play to set-up Spurs’ opener and a delightfully deft assist for the second when he crossed for Kane.
Harry Kane – 9 – An absolutely masterful display from start to finish. Kane tormenting Manchester City after they spent all summer trying to sign him was pure Barclays brilliance.
It was his first-time through-ball that sent Spurs away to score the opening goal, and then after City pegged them back and were dominant it was Kane who showed up to score superbly twice (one was ruled out by VAR).
Harry Kane’s game by numbers vs Man City:
100% shot accuracy
38 touches
13 final third passes
11 final third entries
4 duels won
3 touches in opp. box
3 shots
3 shots on target
2 chances created
2 goalsHe was sensational. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/tVnMKwm2bJ
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 19, 2022
And when City had pulled an 89th minute equaliser out of thin air, who should show up at the death to bury City and blow the Premier League title race wide-open? Why, Harry Kane of course! After all the talk, all the underperformance, this was a world-class striker rising up and refusing to be written off. Harry Kane is a beast.
Substitutes:
Lucas Moura (for Son 80′) – 6 – Pressed relentlessly.
Matt Doherty (for Emerson 83′) – 6 – Made a crucial block from Bernardo Silva at the death.
Davinson Sanchez (for Sessegnon 90’+3) – n/a – Came on late.
