ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Manchester City 1 Tottenham 0:MANCHESTER CITY anxiously contained a revival by Tottenham Hotspur and have their place in the Champions League or, to be more precise, the final qualifying round. The FA Cup finalists will even be guaranteed a berth in the tournament proper if they can snatch third place from Arsenal.
In this match it took an own goal from Peter Crouch to decide the outcome. There was irony in that since he had ended City’s bid for a Champions League slot with his winner here last year. On a tense evening, all went well for the hosts, with Carlos Tevez returning from injury for the closing seven minutes.
In that period the Argentinian set up another substitute but William Gallas’s clearance stopped a Patrick Vieira shot from extending the lead.
City did not begin the night as if they were masters of their own fate and shortly before they took the lead Luka Modric ought to have put the visitors ahead after a run and pass from Aaron Lennon, but instead shot wide. Tottenham were lax in a different fashion almost immediately. James Milner not only played a short corner to Adam Johnson in the 31st minute but was able to receive the return pass inside the penalty area. The midfielder drilled the ball across the six-yard line and Crouch could not avoid turning it into his own net.
Tottenham hardly merited such a fate as they had been enterprising and fresh. It was City, with cause, who had appeared anxious. Tevez, who had not played since April 11th after injuring himself at Liverpool, was on the bench after his hamstring problem and could presumably have a greater role in the FA Cup final.
At least the Eastlands club does not suffer from affectation. For all the aspirations, there is very little glamour about City despite all the outlay on players and their wages. That seems to be the purpose of the exercise for Mancini. While the expenditure points towards lush football, the manager’s constant aim might as well be to eradicate any self-indulgence. His attitude is understandable to a point, considering how decadent the operation could become if it became saturated with affluence.
There is, however, a problem. Owners of such means as Sheikh Mansour surely do not commit remarkable sums simply to create a team known for little more than competence.
The visitors could very easily have been on level terms at the beginning of the second half. In the 47th minute, the City goalkeeper Joe Hart showed extraordinary reactions when blocking the header from the substitute Steven Pienaar that followed a cross from Lennon.
There was disquiet in City ranks for other reasons, too. Crouch caught Pablo Zabaleta and left the full-back with a bloody nose. The physio could not staunch the flow and Aleksandar Kolarov had to be sent on in his stead. That sort of incident may have unsettled Mancini’s side a little but that did not explain why Tottenham were in such command. City tried to stabilise the situation with the introduction of the veteran midfielder Vieira, but the pride in the Tottenham line-up ensured there was no easy way for Mancini’s men to realise their ambition.
Guardian Service
MANCHESTER CITY:Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta (Kolarov 57), Milner, De Jong, Toure Yaya, Adam Johnson (Vieira 66), Silva (Tevez 83), Dzeko. Subs not used: Given, Wright-Phillips, Boyata, Balotelli. Booked: Milner.
TOTTENHAM:Cudicini, Corluka, Dawson, Gallas (Kaboul 88), Rose, Lennon, Palacios (Pienaar 32), Sandro, Modric, Van der Vaart, Crouch (Defoe 78). Subs not used: Pletikosa, Pavlyuchenko, Bassong, Kranjcar. Booked: Pienaar.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).
