ESPN FC’s Steve Nicol recaps Manchester City’s comprehensive 4-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad.
MANCHESTER, England — A trio of thoughts on Manchester City’s 4-1 win vs. Tottenham in the Premier League.
1. The Aguero show
Sergio Aguero takes a while to get up to 100 percent fitness but, when there, he’s often unstoppable. His four-goal haul was hugely impressive, yet he might feel he could have had a Premier League record-equalling five, having missed one of his three penalties.
His first goal was typical Aguero: a goal out of absolutely nothing, from a difficult angle in the inside-left position. Few current players share that Romario-like ability to produce stunningly powerful shots with little backlift and even less warning, and it was notable that Aguero intelligently shifted the ball into a slightly more favourable position as defenders stood off, before slamming the ball into the far corner.
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Too many players panic in those situations, fear being dispossessed when taking an extra touch and unimaginatively thump the ball into the defender. Not Aguero — he’s cool, calm and confident under pressure.
His first penalty was coolly taken into Hugo Lloris’ bottom-right corner, his second was directed the opposite way and easily saved, while his third was slammed into the same position as his first.
However, aside from the goals, a moment shortly before half-time demonstrated Aguero’s extraordinary quality to outwit defenders. Racing past Younes Kaboul to a long ball in the inside-right channel, the Argentine didn’t attempt to sprint directly in behind, but instead checked back, allowed the Spurs captain to recover his position, and then sprinted past him again, before forcing Lloris into a fine save.
Some defenders can cope with Aguero’s pace over a long distance, but no one can cope with his acceleration over 5 yards. Again, he had the courage to take the extra touch.
Sergio Aguero now has 61 career Premier League goals.
Playing without Edin Dzeko, and with David Silva as his closest support, Aguero thrived as City’s lone centre-forward, swapping multiple one-twos with the Spanish playmaker. He was an all-round goal-scoring threat: a swerving long-range drive on 49 minutes forced Lloris into another fine save and then, less than a minute later, he sprinted to the near post towards a low Bacary Sagna cross, replicating a move from the first half when Jesus Navas was the provider.
He was unpredictable throughout, which makes him so difficult to defend against. The sheer power of his first goal, stuck with his right foot, contrasted with the coolness of his final one, steered into the far corner with his left. This was an all-round centre-forward play, and one wonders whether Manuel Pellegrini will continue with this format of using Aguero up front on his own.
Aguero’s English career so far has been excellent. He’s scored the most famous goal in the history of the Premier League, won the title twice in three seasons and on Saturday became City’s highest-ever scorer in this competition. However, it feels like there’s more to come.
2. Battle of the middle men
In a superb, frenetic first half, the most interesting feature was the short-lived but hotly contested battle between two English central midfielders at opposing ends of their Premier League careers: Frank Lampard and Ryan Mason.
It was an old-school central-midfield battle, the type witnessed on playing fields up and down the country every weekend. On one side was the experienced, wily old-timer with strength and presence on the ball while on the other was the younger, more mobile whippersnapper buzzing around. This wasn’t about passing range or spatial awareness, but about two factors: getting beyond the ball into goal-scoring positions and putting in strong challenges.
Mason had impressed in Spurs’ previous away game, a 1-1 draw at Arsenal, with his touch, technique and intelligence in a scrappy, bitty contest. Here, he showed another side to his game: his ability to motor forward into attack.
Within the first five minutes he made himself the “third man running,” darting beyond the front two, Roberto Soldado and Christian Eriksen, as they combined and attempted to slip him in from the inside-right channel. It wasn’t to be, but shortly afterwards something similar happened.
Separated in age by 13 years, there was little between Frank Lampard and Ryan Mason on the Etihad pitch.
Soldado linked play nicely and his pass found Mason, who forced Joe Hart into a fine one-on-one stop. For an inexperienced youngster playing at the home of the champions, his positional bravery was commendable and, sure enough, his determination to move forward created the opener, when he dispossessed Fernando high up the pitch and made a clever run to allow Eriksen space to convert Soldado’s pass.
Lampard, though, is the master of the late run into the box, and his bursts forward proved crucial in both of City’s first-half goals. For the opener, he teed up Aguero, then made a useful decoy run in behind, distracting the defenders and allowing his teammate time to shoot.
Lampard was actually in an offside position, jumping out of the way of the shot and possibly distracting Lloris, but the flag wasn’t forthcoming. Later, another typical burst drew a clumsy Erik Lamela foul for Aguero’s second, from the penalty spot.
It was disappointing that Lampard only lasted half of the opening period. Mason slid into him when going for a 50:50 ball and the veteran departed on a stretcher. In the middle of a pitch packed with technical quality, this was a proper midfield scrap.
3. Spurs suffer due to defensive errors
Mauricio Pochettino can take many positives from Spurs’ performance, despite the eventual 4-1 defeat. That might sound ridiculous, but it neatly summarises how Tottenham let themselves down — they committed a variety of utterly needless defensive errors, a habit that also caused problems last season.
It was peculiar that Pochettino omitted Jan Vertonghen, who performed well in Spurs’ previous game against Southampton. Instead, he picked Federico Fazio, a fine defender but both unaccustomed to, and uncomfortable with, playing a high defensive line.
With Younes Kaboul also more useful when playing deep, it was hardly surprising Spurs had problems against Aguero. Some of the positional play was crazy — at one point, with Aguero on the halfway line, Kaboul actually pushed up ahead of him, trying to play offside. Of course, the striker couldn’t be offside in his own half and raced in behind for a chance.
Conceding three penalties, though, is unforgivable. Lamela’s foul on Lampard was clumsy rather than stupid, and the Argentine is far from a defender. These things can happen.
However, Kaboul’s decision to slide in on Silva for the second penalty was ridiculous considering the relative lack of danger on the corner of the box. Top-class defenders stay on their feet in those situations, rather than giving their opponent license to tumble.
Even more infuriating was Fazio’s decision to pull back Aguero as they both raced towards a low Navas cross. More than anything it suggested laziness, or at least physical incompetence by that stage. Fazio was making his Premier League debut and had been pulled around by Aguero throughout. Not only did he concede a penalty, he also suffered the indignity of a red card.
With Fazio suspended and Vertonghen presumably set to return, it might be a while before we see this centre-back combination again in the Premier League.