As hoped, the sold out game at Etihad Stadium between Manchester City and Tottenham hotspurs was an exhilarating look right up until the moment Howard Webb blew the final whistle – well the second half was anyway.
The first half of the game was fairly balanced. Both Tottenham and City full backs tried to push forward but neither team seemed to want to let their defensive guard down long enough to create goal scoring chances. Spurs looked dangerous at times with promising build up but never really made it count. The only real chance of goal in the first half came from Sergio Aguero, which was blocked by team mate Edin Dzeko. There seems to be a recurring theme of the two players getting in each other’s way. There was a good display from both teams but not the spritely energy and persistence that you would expect in a game of this calibre. The first half ended disappointingly on 0-0 with fans questioning whether the cautious sides were both happy to come out with a point each.
The second half, however, was what we expected to see from both teams, and more. At first it started off slow and slightly careless. Rafael van der Vaart wasted the ball instead of simply passing to an open Aaron Lennon, and then Gareth Bale slipped in the box as he tried to kick the ball towards the net. The first goal came after a stunning pass from David Silva and then a fantastic run by Samir Nasri to retrieve the ball, which he blasted into the net with a stunning finish; silencing all recent criticism of his play. Literally two minutes later, after a brilliant flick towards the net by Edin Dzeko, Joleon Lescott fell into the net with the ball; his first goal since he scored against Manchester United in the Community Shield at the beginning of the season.
Before the City fans even have a chance to feel confident, poor defending by Stefan Savic gave the ball away to Jemaine Defoe. Joe Heart make a bad decision of coming out from the goal line and leaving it wide open for Defoe to slot the ball in the back of the net. But Spurs hadn’t finished there. After a near miss from Dzeko, Spurs regained possession and, after a great pass from Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale smashed the ball into the net with an absolutely stunning goal that left spectators mouths hanging open in both shock and admiration. Within ten minutes, four goals were scored in what was possibly the most tense and exciting second half I have seen all season. Finally, here was a team that played city to win; and who really thought that they could.
The second half saw a couple of changes from both teams, but the most significant to the game was Mario Balotelli replacing Edin Dzeko. Balotelli emerged from the bench and created the usual bedlam that was expected from him. He first picked up a booking for a careless foul on Benoit Assou-Ekotto; perhaps he was offended by his choice of colourful footwear. He then accidently caught Scott Parker with his leg in another challenge, but it was the stamp to Parkers head, which followed after that, that has caused much uproar and speculation. The Italian managed to escape punishment but whether this was the right decision is definitely up for debate. Only Balotelli knows whether his actions were intentional but even as a City fan I can say that the move didn’t look natural. Neither Parker nor the rest of the Spurs players seemed to cause too much of a comoation about the decision at the time; it was the fans and Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp that had the loudest say on the incident.
And so they should have, as it was a penalty by this man that sent Spurs home with not even a point. It was a point that they perhaps deserved. Just after a very near miss by Jemaine Defoe, that could have put Tottenham ahead of the game, a messy challenge from Ledley King led to Howard Webb pointing to the penalty spot. Balotelli stepped up to the challenge and scored a goal with his usual perfect arrogance.
Manchester City come away from the game with three points and the Premiership trophy in clear sight, but Tottenham also proved that they are worthy contenders.