Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have finally broken the curse of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A late goal from Nathan Ake saw the Sky Blues return to Manchester knowing that they will be in the hat for the fifth round draw.
City had never scored in all five of their outings to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, however, after just five minutes, Oscar Bobb looked like he'd broken that duct. Millimetres separated the Norwegian and Cristian Romero, and the on-field decision of offside was confirmed after a VAR check.
With the hosts registering zero shots on goal in the first half, the most dangerous City looked came after forty minutes. Rodri teed up by Bernardo Silva, but his shot was blocked by Romero. The ball then fell to Julian Alvarez who had his effort denied by Rodrigo Bentancur, before heroic defending from Pedro Porro saw him leap in front of Oscar Bobb's goal-bound strike to divert it behind for a corner.
The Lilywhites' best chance of the night fell to Brennan Johnson, however Stefan Ortega was quick off his line to deny the Welshman. The story for much of the second half was similar to the first - one way traffic. Micky van de Ven made a fantastic block to deny Julian Alvarez from close range, before Guglielmo Vicario denied Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku to keep the scoreline level.
It felt like it was going to be another one of those nights for Guardiola and his side in N17, as Kevin De Bruyne fired wide from just inside the penalty area. However, with two minutes left of normal time, City finally broke the curse. Vicario fumbled from a corner and that left Nathan Ake to fire home from two yards out. Despite appeals from the Spurs players, the goal stood and City beat Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first ever time.
The curse is over for Pep
Finally, after nearly five years, five games and over 100 shots on goal, not only have Manchester City, at last, scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they have also won a game!
You have to go back to September 2015 for the last time Manchester City had scored a goal at either White Hart Lane or the Tottenham Hotspur before last night. Eight years ago. Three-thousand and forty-four days ago.
Nathan Ake's late winner was enough to secure the win for Pep Guardiola and his team, who have finally achieved their goal for the season. After winning the treble last season, the Spanish tactician was asked what his target for the 23/24 season was.
He replied: “To score a goal at Spurs away."
It was nothing less than they deserved, as they bossed possession of the ball for the entire ninety minutes, making it look as though they were playing at home, and that could have been believable, with the backing of nine-thousand City fans inside the ground. An outstanding effort, with no trains back to Manchester on a Friday night.
With that target now completed, we're sure the new target will now be to go and attempt to win the treble again - you certainly wouldn’t put it past them!
Spurs' cup failings continue
Many Spurs fans will once again be disappointed as their side crash out of the oldest domestic cup competition in the world.
The eight-time winners have made it past round five only twice in the last ten years, and their losses don't make for a good reading. Fourth round exits include losses against Leicester City, Crystal Palace and now Manchester City, whilst in the fifth round there have been horrific losses away at Everton and EFL Championship sides Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.
Having already been knocked out of the Carabao Cup against Fulham on penalties in round two, this defeat against the current FA Cup holders will hurt even more. A claim to the throne in the Premier League is unlikely, but not impossible, so unless a miracle is performed, it means that the wait for a trophy is set to go on for yet another year.
City have finally clicked
Something had looked off with Manchester City in the opening half of the 23/24 campaign.
Despite qualifying with ease for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 and being just five points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, it hasn't been the smoothest of starts to the campaign for The Cityzens, but it now seems like something has clicked.
City are now unbeaten in ten games (9W, 1D) and have recently welcomed Kevin De Bruyne back to the side, whilst star striker Erling Haaland is set to return in the coming weeks. The victory in Qatar at the FIFA Club World Cup proved that the taste for trophies hasn't faded, despite being knocked out the Carabao Cup to Newcastle United in round three in September.
Two statement victories have followed the trophy success in the Middle East. A late turnaround at St James' Park and a comfortable win in North London in the FA Cup have shown some very encouraging signs for City fans, and should signal trouble for Liverpool.
The ball retention throughout the first 65 minutes on Friday night was simply astonishing. Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham, a side who love to see plenty of the ball, were limited to just 43% possession on home soil! With 25 minutes to go, that's when the sucker punch arrived for Spurs. On came Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku and City went for the kill.
That killer instinct came with two minutes of normal time remaining, as defender Nathan Ake capitalised on a mistake from Guglielmo Vicario. City now enter a favourable run of fixtures, with four of the next five at home, and this win in the cup, and against a bogey side, could do wonders for them.
Liverpool will need to be wary, as Pep Guardiola's side are ready to pounce, should The Reds slip up.