Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City: 3 things we learned

Manchester City overcame Tottenham and a questionable Wembley pitch to post a hard-fought 1-0 victory on Monday evening.  Here are three things we learned from the match.

The Premier League wrapped up its 10th round of fixtures on Monday evening as defending champions Manchester City made the trip to Wembley Stadium in London to take on Tottenham in a match with top four implications.

Manchester City kept its sixth straight clean sheet and Riyad Mahrez provided the only goal of the match as the Cityzens topped Tottenham 1-0 to pick up three points and sit at the top of the table once again.

Here are three things we learned from Monday’s important match.

Mahrez delivers on emotional night

In the wake of Saturday’s tragic helicopter accident outside of Leicester City’s King Power Stadium which claimed the life of beloved Foxes owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others, all eyes were on former Leicester star and current Manchester City forward Riyad Mahrez.

Mahrez was the star of the 2015-16 Leicester City squad who won the Premier League and the heavy-hearted Mahrez did his best to honor his fallen former owner by taking a well-placed Raheem Sterling pass and depositing it in the back of the net in the sixth minute of the match to give City an early 1-0 lead.

The goal was all that would be needed on the night as City’s stingy defense limited the Spurs attack to only four shots at goal with only one hitting the target.

Manchester City should have been up more than one goal as City attempted thirteen shots at goal with six hitting the target.

With Kevin De Bruyne starting on the bench, Mahrez led the charge for City.  Mahrez humbly paid tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha’s passing by pointing to the heavens following his 6th minute goal.

With more performances like this, it may be hard for Pep Guardiola to keep Mahrez out of the team.

Eriksen and Alli sorely missed

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino decided to leave Danish international Christian Eriksen and England international Dele Alli out of the starting lineup for Monday night’s clash and Spurs clearly felt the lack of a cutting edge in midfield.

Eriksen continues to suffer from an abdominal injury and Alli is coming back from a hamstring injury.  Clearly, Pochettino felt that it was too early in the grueling Premier League season to risk his talented pair of midfielders from the start.

Without the midfield duo, Pochettino turned to Moussa Sissoko, Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela to create opportunities and provide service to Harry Kane.

However, as the match wore on and with City still holding a narrow lead, Pochettino heard the cries from Spurs supporters and subbed on the creative pair late in the match to try to get the equalizer for Spurs.

After their insertion into the midfield, Spurs became much more lively in attack with Alli and Eriksen causing trouble for the City defense, particularly down Kyle Walker’s flank.  The best Spurs opportunity came in the second half from Erik Lamela who took a wobbly Alli pass and shot it over the bar with about 10 minutes remaining in the match.

If Spurs have hopes of challenging the likes of City and Liverpool for the Premier League crown this season, Pochettino will need Eriksen and Alli at full strength to provide the attacking edge needed to break down the more talented sides in the league.

Wembley a house of horrors for Spurs

Spurs have had their best start to a Premier League season this year, taking 21 points from their first nine matches.  With the opening date of Tottenham’s new White Hart Lane stadium continually being pushed back further and further into the 2018-19 Premier League season, Spurs have been forced to call Wembley home for much longer than they would have liked.

Wembley had plenty of empty seats for this important match and the pitch at Wembley still had markings from Sunday’s NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Groundskeepers could be seen trying to get the pitch ready for the match right up until kickoff and the ball continually bounced erratically on the heavily worn and chewed up pitch.

There is no doubt that Tottenham has the talent to challenge for the Premier League title but Spurs now sit in 5th place, five points off the pace of Manchester City and Liverpool following tonight’s loss.

If Spurs realistically have hopes of challenging for the title and the Champions League places, Tottenham will need to figure out a way to turn Wembley into a place where opponents find it difficult to come and play.

Playing “home” matches at Wembley cannot be used as an excuse for poor results.