ManCity missed victory due to a goal in the 90th minute. And then the referee issued something inexplicable

Thanks to Tottenham, Arsenal pulled away from the reigning champions by three points.

Sunday matches in the Premier League were intense. Despite captain Gallagher's expulsion, Chelsea defeated Brighton 3-2. Liverpool staged a stunning comeback. Then, City and Tottenham played out a highly productive draw. And for Guardiola's team, the match didn't go well from the very beginning.

In the first five minutes, City literally locked Tottenham in their half and, through pressing, didn't allow the guests to do anything. They remained in full force at the corner in their penalty area, but then, in seconds, they ran with the ball to the opponent's goal. Son, from a sharp angle, instead of a shot, inexplicably opted for a kick that went to the center. Still, Ederson couldn't handle it and deflected the ball into his own goal.

And it was only the sixth minute of the match. Just 138 seconds passed, and Son scored again! But there's a catch – the Korean accidentally sliced the ball into his own net. This was Son's first own goal in all 387 matches for Tottenham.

Suddenly, things didn't go well for Hallaand. He messed up several excellent chances, but it didn't matter if his teammates had plenty of other moments. Foden put his team ahead 2-1, Doku hit the crossbar, Alvarez hit the post. City had everything to settle the outcome in the first half. It didn't work out – the finishing let them down, although overall, the citizens looked as powerful as ever.

At the beginning of the second half, Guardiola took Doku off the field, who was creating a lot of trouble despite not contributing with goals. Probably, the coach wanted to calm the game down and have more control over the ball than attacking. Coming on, Grealish almost immediately received a warning for throwing the ball aside when Tottenham wanted to put it into play. This was Grealish's fifth yellow card in this Premier League season. Now the winger will have to miss the next match – away against Aston Villa, who are fourth in the table.

The missed opportunities in the first half affected City after the break. Lo Celso received the ball near the opponent's penalty area, moved towards the goal, and shot precisely under the crossbar – 2-2! And this score held until the 81st minute, and then the hosts finally pressed on. It was Grealish who scored. He was assisted by Holland, who still didn't achieve on this evening but at least made his presence felt in the build-up play. It seemed like that was another City victory, and there would be nothing interesting except for the return of Kovacic and Richarlison to the field.

However, Tottenham found the strength to equalize! In the 90th minute, Johnson crossed from the left flank, and Kulusevski headed the ball accurately. And this goal turned out to be the last in the match. Perhaps also because referee Simon Hooper denied City a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The referee awarded a free-kick in favor of the hosts when it was more advantageous for them to continue playing. Grealish was not offside and was escaping from all defenders.

Thus, City increased their gap from Arsenal to three points after this round. Tottenham failed to win the fourth round in a row. Still, due to this result at the Emirates, Londoners are likely to be okay.

Published by Patrick Jane
04.12.2023