Man City player ratings vs Tottenham: Phil Foden falls flat yet again as Savinho injury leaves Pep Guardiola counting cost of early Carabao Cup exit
Pep Guardiola called upon several youth and fringe players as Manchester City took on Tottenham in the Carabao Cup fourth round, and even though there was a generous sprinkling of experience and quality to go with that, his side were second-best as they lost 2-1 in north London.
With only six minutes on the clock, Tottenham took the lead. Archie Gray's pass into the channel found Brennan Johnson, who flicked the ball forward and set Dejan Kulusevski racing away. The Swede scampered to the byline and crossed low for Timo Werner to power beyond Stefan Ortega.
Midway through the first half, the visitors found themselves two down. A simple corner routine saw Kulusevski tee up Pape Matar Sarr on the edge of the box, and he curled his strike from 25 yards in at the near post.
City's first opportunity came shortly before the break when Matheus Nunes ran down the outside of Gray and fizzed a teasing cross through the six-yard box, which only just evaded the toes of Phil Foden. In the final minute of first-half stoppage time, however, City grabbed themselves a lifeline as Savinho twisted his way past Destiny Udogie and chipped a lovely cross up for Nunes to convert at the back stick.
Tottenham should have been out of sight on the other side of the break when Dominic Solanke turned away from two City defenders and sent Werner through against Ortega, but he took his touch wide and his weak-foot strike whistled past the far post. Minutes later, Ortega threw up a strong hand to deny Kulusevski when he was similarly clear on goal.
Guardiola's men were in real danger of receiving a knockout blow in the final 10 minutes, with Josko Gvardiol notably throwing the ball straight to Richarlison, who somehow fluffed his lines when met with Ortega at close quarters.
City had one final chance left in them, which came when Guglielmo Vicario flapped at a corner and the loose ball fell kindly for Nico O'Reilly, but the youngster's strike was poked off the line by Yves Bissouma and the hosts held on through six minutes of added time for the victory.
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