Yesterday’s match will be placed in the archives for the next few decades after Harry Kane surpassed Jimmy Greaves to become Tottenham’s greatest ever goal scorer.
Tottenham had been unsuccessful against the ‘big six’ this season and had even struggled a couple weeks prior at the Etihad, where a 2-0 lead was squandered in 12 minutes. Spurs have looked an improved side since the 1-0 victory at Craven Cottage a fortnight ago.
This game had implications for both sides. Manchester City are in a title challenge with Arsenal, who lost this weekend to Everton, and Spurs, who were desperate to close the gap on Newcastle in an attempt for top four.
The true storyline of this game fell on Harry Kane’s shoulders, however. The glorious striker was just a single goal away from cementing himself at the top of Tottenham’s goal-scoring records. Jimmy Greaves’ record was utterly unthinkable of ever being beaten, but it took a legendary footballer.
Tottenham started the game tentatively. The team kept a superb shape the whole game and shut down spaces superbly throughout the game to minimise the threat of the visitors. The action was quite dull early on until about the 14th minute mark.
Spurs’ midfielders were absolutely fantastic in terms of the timing of when to press, when to challenge and when to sit back yesterday. Hojbjerg and Bentancur were constantly pressing City’s back line and midfield when they were passing in deeper areas.
This was what lead to the first goal – Hojbjerg capitalised on a sloppy pass from Rodri, picked Rico Lewis’ pockets and shifted the ball to Kane, whose scuffed shot found the bottom corner past Ederson.
Harry Kane was beaming with pride after creating history. Jubilant was the best way to describe it, as his teammates went to congratulate him. A graphic congratulating him came up on the big screen, which was met with a loud roar, followed by the famous ‘one of our own’ chants. It was truly a special moment to witness.
Tottenham grew into the game after they opened the scoring, and continued to defend resolutely and hit City on the counter attack. A poignant moment was Cristian Romero blatantly crunching into Erling Haaland, who was anonymous throughout the entire game. It seemed like Haaland did not have any freedom, and Spurs marshalled the Norwegian superbly.
Tottenham became mightily close on a number of occasions in the second half. Kane was inches away from finishing a Perisic cross, Son looked lively on the counter, and Kulusevski had a range of opportunities to add to the lead.
The standout, shocking performance came from Emerson Royal, however. It was tipped that deadline day signing Pedro Porro would start, but Emerson was chosen by Stellini, who stepped in for the recovering Antonio Conte.
It is never a simple game against Jack Grealish, who was particularly impressive yesterday. However, Emerson marshalled the Englishman superbly, made a few excellent challenges and was positive going forward. This was the confidence that Emerson needed.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was nominated as man of the match by Gary Neville. The Dane was great in midfield against a capable Manchester City midfield, and obviously provided the assist for the winning goal.
It was a glorious day at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a record-breaking day. It was a pleasure to see the reception Kane received from the fans, and the belief and hope will be in the team now to achieve greatness this season.
Next up for Tottenham is a trip to the King Power next Saturday against Leicester, before a Valentine’s day trip to Milan for a crucial Champions League match.
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