Key takeaways as Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Carabao Cup
Tottenham Hotspur progressed to the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup, courtesy of a 2-1 home win over Manchester City in their round 4 clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The match was settled in an entertaining first half as Timo Werner and Pape Mata Sarr gave the hosts a 2-0 lead against an opponent that was relatively depleted with injuries.
Matheus Nunes pulled a goal back in stoppage time during the first 45 and in spite of the visiting side’s probing in the second period, Tottenham held on to earn a vital win. It keeps Ange Postecoglou’s side alive in the hunt for a piece of silverware in nearly two decades with Manchester United up next in the competition for the Lilywhites.
The fixture is scheduled in mid-December with a date and time yet to be confirmed. In the meanwhile, here is a look at the three talking points from the game.
Werner finally breaks his duck
Timo Werner started in several of Tottenham’s last few matches owing to injury problems in the team’s offensive department. Richarlison, Son Heung-min and Wilson Odobert were all on the treatment table, which gave the German the opportunity to have a lengthy run of fixtures under his belt. While he showed glimpses of his quality, some very poor finishing let him down.
Against Manchester City, he confidently placed a brilliant pass from Dejan Kulusevski past Man City’s goalkeeper Stefan Ortega. Postecoglou will be hoping that this was the first of many goals that the former Chelsea forward scores this season as he will remain an important secondary asset for the team especially in the domestic cups.
Solanke and Johnson fail once more
Though Tottenham won against Manchester City, the performances of Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke left a lot to be desired. The duo performed at their peak a few weeks ago but their form has dramatically reduced in recent fixtures as their lack of cutting edge in front of goal was a key factor in Spurs’ last two Premier League defeats against Brighton and Crystal Palace.
It will be interesting to see what formula Postecoglou uses going forward to ensure both players are on a sustainable run in the final third rather than having highs and lows. Son’s return will be imperative, as he will alleviate some pressure off both players. The South Korean’s ability to attract defenders towards him ends up working nicely in favour of the other attacking players, Johnson and Solanke in this case.
Manchester United up next
Manchester United are the next big challenge between Tottenham and their first trophy since 2008. The Red Devils will hope that they are a far better side by December’s meeting, given that Erik ten Hag has been relieved of his duties and Ruben Amorim is the favourite to take over. They have already shown signs of improvement, thanks to a 5-2 win over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.
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Tottenham, however, will remain confident having run over United not too long ago. They won 3-0 in the Premier League at Old Trafford and the scoreline could have been far more embarrassing for their opponents were it not for some poor finishing. The quarter final will be an interesting watch and Spurs will look to play as well as they did against Manchester City.