Spurs 1-0 Man City: Son's late strike is enough to see off Pep's side

This was supposed to be the year Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side finally transferred their domestic dominance onto the European stage but Tottenham Hotspur became the latest side to spoil the party. Son Heung-min scored the only goal of the game to maintain Spurs’ 100% record at their - you might have heard about it - brand new stadium which is not called White Hart Lane.

For those expecting a cagey affair between two sides more concerned about not making mistakes than creating them, those fears were put to bed within minutes. The pace was traditional for a Premier League game as neither side held back throwing numbers forward looking to get an early breakthrough.

The end-to-end encounter was catching its breath at a corner when the referee suddenly started talking to the officials in the VAR room. After a lengthly talk he went to the sidelines where yet more time was taken. Ultimately he signalled for a penalty that Manchester City didn’t even appeal for. Danny Rose’s arm certainly made contact with the ball but it appeared he was bringing it down rather than up to meet it. Either way, City were handed a golden chance to net an away goal.

Sergio Aguero stepped up and promptly saw his effort kept out by Hugo Lloris. The home supporters will claim justice was served whilst Pep couldn’t bring himself to even watch. Maybe he knew what was coming?

That miss sparked Spurs into the ascendency. Sissoko was the action man in midfield, covering every blade of grass, whilst Winks was afforded the time to keep moves ticking over nicely. 

City appeared to accept being on the back foot and looked to counter. Spurs were unsurprisingly on the end of the next biggest chance as Alli was fouled, the referee played on, allowing Eriksen to find Kane with a bit of space in the box. He turned onto his right foot but couldn’t quite get enough on it to truly test Ederson in the City goal.

The other major talking point from the first half was a clash between Kane and Fernandinho in the middle of the park. After contesting a ball, the Brazilian smashed his elbow into the back of the fallen striker. Apparently the man in the VAR room had nipped out for a cup of tea as the nothing was given, not even a yellow card.

Ten minutes into the second half and disaster struck for Spurs. The lively Kane attempted to win a ball with Fabian Delph but appeared to slip at the last second, causing the City defender to leave his entire weight on the England striker’s troublesome ankle. He knew it was serious straight away and was carried down the tunnel.

City took control of proceedings with their opponents struggling to make the ball stick up front. Sterling and Mahrez kept probing as Spurs were pegged deep into their own half. It felt inevitable that City would grind out a narrow victory.

So naturally Tottenham took the lead. Eriksen found Son in behind but the South Korean’s first touch seemed to kill the attack. However he kept the ball in play, skipped inside, trying to find a yard of space and when he got it smashed it through Ederson.

On came surprise substitutes Kevin de Bruyne and Leroy Sane but Spurs, to their credit, dug in deep and saw the the six minutes of injury time.

It’s all to do for Pep once again in the Champions League.