Manchester City’s season took a blow with defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday. Combined with the second-half collapse to rival Manchester United last weekend, things were about as dismal as they could be for a team with a 13-point lead in the Premier League. But a 3-1 win for Manchester City vs Tottenham on Saturday at Wembley Stadium showed Pep Guardiola’s side is still the best in England.
Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gündogan and Raheem Sterling all scored for City, which moved 16 points ahead of Manchester United with five matches to play. The title will be theirs if Manchester United loses to West Brom on Sunday.
Raheem Sterling scored his 22nd goal of the season for Manchester City vs Tottenham. Photo: @OptaJoe | Twitter
Manchester City was humbled 5-1 on aggregate by Liverpool in the Champions League quarterfinals, two results wrapped around a 3-2 loss to archrival Manchester United in a match in which the Citizens could’ve wrapped up the title with a win.
Despite three losses in a row, Man City will likely to claim the title with a win over Swansea on April 22, unless United drops points before then.
Manchester City opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Vincent Kompany played a wonderful ball into the path of Gabriel Jesus, who placed a low shot past Hugo Lloris.
Lloris compounded Spurs’ problems moments later when Sterling was played in and taken out by Lloris. Though the foul was right on the edge of the box, the referee pointed to the spot and Gündogan hit a perfect penalty kick to make it 2-0 in the 25th minute.
.@IlkayGuendogan sends Lloris the wrong way and @ManCity lead by 2! #SharkTeam pic.twitter.com/6KnwHdo3Px
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 14, 2018
Tottenham pulled one back in the 42nd minute with a fortunate finish from Christian Eriksen. Harry Kane played the ball through for the Danish midfielder, whose shot was deflected back off his own leg and into the back of the net, sparking thousands of tweets saying Kane will claim the goal from folks who think they’re really funny.
This one is definitely Christian Eriksen's Tottenham are back in the game! pic.twitter.com/40AplELVal
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) April 14, 2018
Both teams had plenty of chances to score in the second half but it wasn’t until the 72nd minute that either goal was breached. Sterling, moments after somehow failing to score with an empty net, slammed a shot past Lloris, who was unable to recover after blocking the first attempt from Gabriel Jesus.
#LigaPremierTD @sterling7 aprovecha su oportunidad para aumentar el marcador para @ManCity sobre @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/oYJXwizHJh
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) April 14, 2018
Manchester City is now in a similar situation to Barcelona. Both clubs have struggled in cup competitions but have been absolutely dominant in league play. Whether or not that’s enough to assuage fans remains to be seen, but both deserve respect for what they have accomplished, not what they haven’t been able to accomplish.
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