Tottenham vs Man City

“Here comes Son against city again and this time he can’t beat Ortega.” Oh’s and grown’s filled White Hart Lane as Son Heung-min had a wide-open breakaway in the 80th minute to tie up what was a truly mesmerizing match between Tottenham and Manchester City on Tuesday night, but the right leg of Man City’s backup goalie Stefan Ortega was there to say no, not today, this is our night. I have never seen more hands-on heads in disbelief as the ball bounced off Ortega’s shin guards back into the field of play. Yesterday’s match between Tottenham and Manchester City was memorable on so many fronts. The season ending stakes that were attached to this match were of biblical proportions and it just added to the emotion of a rivalry that doesn’t need any extra emotion added to it.

Before things even kicked off on Tuesday night in North London emotions were already high, with the Spurs needing a win to stay alive in the hunt for that pivotal 4th spot in the Premier League which awards teams the opportunity to play in the world’s biggest club tournament, UEFA Champions League. Tottenham need all 3 points to stay within striking distance of an Aston Villa team that was on nobody’s radar coming into the 2023 season but have played remarkably this year. Credit where credit is due. On the other side of the pitch stakes were even greater with Man City needing a win to all but seal up the Premier League Championship over Tottenham’s hated cross town rivals Arsenal. There are some whispers in the English Primer League community saying that Son missed that kick on purpose to give Man City the win so Arsenal’s chances to hoist the cup become that much harder… Now I don’t want to say that’s what happened but when have we ever seen Son miss a breakaway opportunity like that, he seems to always bury those in the back of the net. A small Part of me thinks they all stood in a circle after the game and were laughing at Arsenal fans.

The first half was a feeling each other up masterpiece from both sides. Sorry, that came out wrong… feeling each other out… out… That’s my bad… With both sides having quality opportunities to stretch out the back of the netting. Tottenham had its fair share of first half chances but in the 5th minute came arguably their best when Rodrigo Bentancur sent a thundering left footed rocket towards Man City’s goal tender Ederson who just so happen to through a towering left hand high in the air at the perfect time to deflect Bentancurs shot over the top of the cross bar. Just a remarkable save from Man City’s net minder. Man City’s best chance of the first half came during the 44th minute, when Bernardo Silva sent a sultry blast off his left foot towards the empty left corner of the net but just like his Romaine ancestor before him during The Second Balkan War, Tottenham’s center back Radu Drăgușin stood his ground and made the non-goalie save of the night or should I say his right shoulder made the save of the night. Even though Man City was offsides, that was just the momentum that Tottenham needed to stay alive in this match headed into the second half. Even with great chances from both teams, they entered half time scoreless.

The second half started off with a bang or should I say a flick. Tottenham was attacking in Man City’s zone right off the get go when Son received a glorious pass from Brennan Johnson that Son tried to flick past the sliding arms of Ederson. But once again Ederson was there to make another great save with his left arm. After that remarkable save the momentum swung in favor of Man City. No more than 5 minutes later in the 50th minute, Kevin De Bruyne sent a silky cross crease pass into Norwegian folk hero Erling Haaland’s right foot, who just had to in the famous words of Happy Gilmore “tap it in, give it a little tap tap taparoo.” The traveling Man City fans (and there were a lot of them) erupted with joy as the ball crept into the back of the net giving Man City a 1-0 led.

Maybe the most pivotal play of the night happened in the 61st minute when Cristian Romero did his best Bruce Lee impression by throwing his right leg up in the air to try and kick in a curling pass from Dejan Kulusevski but in doing so he kicked a diving Ederson right in the chest eventually knocking him out for the game in the 67th minute. With Ederson out for the game it was time for Man City’s backup goalie Stefan Ortega to shine and boy did he ever making great save after great save including the save of the night when he stopped a streaking Son from scoring on a breakaway in the 85th minute. He was the real MVP of the night by coming in off a cold bench and saving not only goals from going in, but Man City’s championship hopes as well.

Man City eventually added an insurance goal in the 89th minute when a penalty was called in the box on Tottenham defender Pedro Porro when he tripped an attacking Jérémy Doku streaking towards the goal. Haaland then careened a penalty shot past Tottenham’s wrong side guessing goalie Guglielmo Vicario to give Man City a 2-0 led and an impressive victory over Tottenham and it’s stunned crowd at White Hart Lane. What a night though and what a match. This game had everything you love about soccer, stakes, drama, unbelievable saves, silky passes, incredible goals, and an atmosphere that rivals anything in sports. It’s just a shame that Sunday is the last day of the Premier League season, and we have to wait a whole 3 months till it begins again in August.

Thanks For Reading and Enjoy the Final Weekend Of The English Premier League.