Manchester City failed to kick off their Premier League campaign with a win, losing 0-1 to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
City were poised to pick up all three points not only because of their superior squad but also because Spurs were playing their first league match under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Santo has a pretty decent record against Pep Guardiola’s sides and the new boss showed his skills once again by matching Manchester City stride for stride.
Unlike Mourinho’s team, Nuno’s Spurs were not ultra-defensive and this was something which Manchester City were not particularly prepared for. Everyone was expecting Tottenham to play on bits and pieces for the whole match but after the initial onslaught from City, Nuno’s side went on the front foot at every chance they got.
The killer instinct lacking from Man City:
Raheem Sterling explained after the match that Manchester City did not take their chances in the final third, something which gave Spurs more confidence as the game progressed.
“We were on the front foot for the first 15 minutes,” Sterling said, as per the club’s official website. “They kept getting the quick little counters, we’ll bounce back from this one.
“I thought we could have controlled the game a bit better, we let them counter a lot more, and they did the most important thing in football – put the ball in the net. We couldn’t. It’s as simple as that. It’s a difficult one to take, but its a long season.
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“It’s always difficult to start with a defeat, but it is a long road, we need to keep focused and bounce back from it.”
Couldn’t kill off the pace:
Pep Guardiola added the other reason saying that they failed to keep a check on the Spurs forward line and in the end, their rapid pace did most of the damage.
The manager said: “We started really well but after 20 minutes we allowed them too much running in transition.
“With Son, Bergwijn and Lucas Moura, we wanted to avoid that.
“In general, we showed a good spirit and good intention and we arrived in the final third many times, but we could not be clinical enough. Son scores and we lose.”
This is obviously the first game of the season so there’s not much to sweat for Manchester City but these three points will be a big boost for Tottenham Hotspur and their new boss.
