Manchester City v Tottenham; Spurs go home empty handed after a spirited display
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I think it’s fair to say that Mancini’s men have had to endure a tougher January fixture list than any team across Europe and while they’ve dropped the ball in cup competitions, they’ve managed to come out unscathed in the league.
Emmanuel Adebayor was unavailable for selection because he is still on Manchester City’s payroll. Mancini on the other hand was without the African contingent and Vincent Kompany which gave Savic the opportunity to prove that the blunder he made against Liverpool was a one-off. By the end of the game though, he’d provided his critics with more ammunition.
Starting line-ups and formations
Manchester City started the game in a 4-2-2-2 shape that had Hart in goal, a back four of Richards, Savic, Lescott and Clichy. Barry 
and Milner played behind Silva and Nasri in midfield while Aguero and Dzeko started upfront.
Tottenham started the game in a 4-2-3-1 shape that had Friedel in goal, a back four of Walker, Kaboul, King and Ekotto. Modric and Parker played in central midfield with Van der Vaart ahead of them. Lennon and Bale played on the flanks while Defoe was the furthest forward.
First half
The first half proved to be a workman like affair rather a stellar one, not because the teams were not playing good soccer but simply because both teams try to use the same strategy in games and in turn they ended up cancelling each other out. These sides try to dominate possession early on and press high up the pitch thereby forcing the opposition to play deeper and deeper.
While City tried to press high up the pitch, Spurs pressed right back and the possession was shared between the sides with neither team dominating proceedings.
That said, City got the marginal advantage in this back and forth battle with more shots on goal and a couple of half chances that they fluffed. By the 25th minute, the attempts on goal column read City 3-0 Spurs.
Tottenham managed slightly more passes than Man City by the end of the half but the home side seemed more lethal and dominant in and around the penalty area.
By choosing to press City on the ball, Harry Redknapp’s side managed to cancel out City and share ball possession, indeed by the quarter hour mark, possession was 50/50 and yet ironically, by doing so Spurs shunned themselves of their biggest asset which is simply pace on the counter.
Second half
The second 45 was a completely different affair from the first. Man City likes to press teams early on and as the game goes on, their defensive high-line keeps retreating. The fact that Spurs had managed to go toe to toe with the home side in the first half meant that the visitors would probably dominate possession in the early stages of the second half as City’s high-line starts to play deeper. That’s exactly what happened and by the 65 minute mark, the possession stats read 57/43 in Tottenham’s favor.
However, since the game tends to get stretched at that time as players start to tire, that’s when City’s forwards can be extremely dangerous. With Spurs taking possession in more advanced areas of the pitch, Spaces started to appear just ahead of their defence for Silva and Nasri to exploit.
The home side took a two goal lead which seemed to be more than plenty to win a tie as hardly fought as this one until Savic’s howler gave Defoe an opportunity to pull one back and he tucked it away with accomplished ease.
After Bale’s spectacular second, the tactical side of the game counted for little, Spurs had the momentum and City was psychologically demoralized. Still Defoe somehow connived to miss on a counter that City’s calamitous defender (Savic) had gifted Spurs.
That particular play showed the sort of counter attack Redknapp’s side were missing by competing with City for possession, a better strategy would have been to play a deeper, more compact defence and strike on the counter.
In conclusion, as 2011 came to an end Mancini made it a point to tell anyone who would listen that his side would have a palpable chance at the title if they finished January on top of the table- indeed it became a theme of sorts for his press conferences. And while the Italian boss will be rather carked by Balotelli’s impending ban, he’ll be pleased to welcome back Kompany soon, as Savic’s shoddy displays continue to underline the importance of City’s Belgian captain.
