Tottenham stages a comeback for a draw against Manchester City in a six-goal thriller
A weakened Tottenham surprised Manchester City when Dejan Kulusevski scored in the 90th minute, earning Spurs an exciting 3-3 draw at the Etihad on Sunday.
Tottenham’s manager, Ange Postecoglou, stuck to his attacking style of football even with many injured players. His bravery paid off as Spurs managed to secure a draw against the strong Manchester City team.
In the first 10 minutes, Spurs’ captain Son Heung-min scored goals for both teams. Phil Foden then put City ahead before half-time, but Giovani Lo Celso equalized for Spurs 20 minutes before the end.
Jack Grealish scored to give the home team the lead again, but Kulusevski’s header meant that City has not won in five of their last eight league games.
The champions of England and Europe now stand in third place on the table, three points behind Arsenal, who are leading.
With one point from the match, Tottenham moves up to fifth place and ends a streak of three losses in a row.
The bold strategy of the visitors paid off early. Son quickly reached Kulusevski’s long pass, and Ederson couldn’t stop the South Korean from scoring his eighth goal against City.
Son’s initial lead didn’t last long, as he accidentally scored an own goal three minutes later. Alvarez’s free-kick, flicked on by Haaland, deflected off Son into the net.
Spurs played without a recognized center-back for the second game in a row and struggled to stop City’s attacks.
Haaland missed an easy opportunity to score when he shot wide after Tottenham lost possession in their own box.
City had several chances to secure a comfortable lead before halftime but couldn’t capitalize on them.
Jeremy Doku hit the inside of the post really hard, and then Alvarez also hit the crossbar from outside the box.
Haaland had a difficult day trying to score, as he shot well over the goal during another clear opportunity.
However, on the 31st minute, City made a precise and effective play to take the lead. Doku passed to Alvarez inside the box, and the Argentine set up Foden to score.
Early in the second half, Vicario, Tottenham’s goalkeeper, made an amazing save against Bernardo Silva to keep Tottenham in the game.
City then made a mistake by becoming too confident and giving Spurs’ makeshift defense some relief. Lo Celso, taking advantage of a rare chance in the starting lineup due to James Maddison’s injury, scored his second goal in two games by shooting off the post.
Tottenham’s decision to start their plays from the back seemed like a mistake with 10 minutes left. Rodri stole the ball from Yves Bissouma and passed to Haaland, who then set up Grealish for an easy goal.
The excitement didn’t stop there. Kulusevski perfectly timed his run and headed in Brennan Johnson’s cross.
In stoppage time, City was furious when the referee, Simon Hooper, unexpectedly stopped the game to give the home team a free-kick, even though Grealish was clear and about to score.
City faced more consequences as Rodri and Grealish received yellow cards. This means they will miss the next game on Wednesday against Aston Villa because of suspension. Aston Villa has won 13 consecutive home Premier League games.