inews

Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham (Maddison 13’, 20’, Porro 52’, Johnson 90+3′)

It began with searchlights scanning the crowd, who responded by turning on the lights on their phones. You wondered if Bob Dylan was going to wander on and sing “Blowing in the Wind”.

Instead, Rodri came on to parade his Ballon d’Or. Behind him, on the pitch, there was a giant board where his name was picked out in lightbulbs as if the Manchester City midfielder were Elvis and this was the 1968 Comeback Special. Blackpool may have done something similar for Stanley Matthews when he won the award.

Then the crowd began chanting Pep Guardiola‘s name. He had responded to a run of four defeats by announcing he had signed a new two-year contract and reminding a media he always suspects of wanting the whole City project to implode that he had won six Premier League titles.

It was a demonstration of who Manchester City are. The champions of England with the best manager and best player in the world.

They then suffered their fifth successive defeat and by a distance the most damaging. By the time Brennan Johnson clipped home the fourth from another breakaway which saw Timo Werner leave Kyle Walker for dead, it had become a rout.

None of the previous losses looked though it might be fatal. One was in the Champions League group stage and another was in the League Cup, a competition Guardiola wanted rid of anyway.

The consequences of this defeat might be season-defining. Liverpool could host City next Sunday eight points clear.

Should City give the ball away as casually as they did against Tottenham and defend as naively, the defence of their title may be over on the first day of December.

It is worth pointing out that Manchester City still attacked like a Guardiola team. Had Guglielmo Vicario not been in exceptional form in the Spurs goal, had Phil Foden, Savinho and Erling Haaland, in particular, been slightly more accurate with their shooting, this might have been an epic contest.

Tottenham, who came here as the only club to have lost to Ipswich and Crystal Palace, have now beaten both Manchester clubs on their own turf and removed City from the League Cup.

Spurs have taken more points from Guardiola at the Etihad than any other club. They have never seemed afraid of Manchester City – the last eight games between these two sides here have produced 36 goals. Now was not the time to start.

Dejan Kulusevski gave them penetration from the flanks that James Maddison exploited beautifully. His first goal was taken on the volley, the second almost dug out from under his boots as he advanced on goal. Both were scored with a coolness City, who had double the number of shots, mostly lacked.

Tottenham, as their fans know, are perfectly capable of tossing aside a two-goal lead but the third, which saw Dominic Solanke pulling back the ball for Pedro Porro to thunder into the top of Ederson’s net, was the killer.

When the story of the season comes to be written, it will probably conclude that the loss of Rodri, the man who dominated the prelude to this contest, was crucial and the moment his anterior cruciate snapped against Arsenal was the moment of reckoning.

There are comparisons with Roy Keane’s absence with a similar injury at a similar time – their cruciates both went in September – that climaxed with Manchester United losing the title to Arsenal in 1998.

The difference is that City’s collapse came almost immediately after Rodri’s injury whereas United fell apart between February and April, months in which Alex Ferguson’s sides generally excelled.

The blip is becoming a landslide and if Guardiola cannot halt it against Liverpool, they will be buried beneath it. Perhaps, before that match they ought to play a film in the dressing room of Manchester City losing to Mansfield in the 1998 Auto Windscreens Shield.

As clubs prepare for the prospect of recouping compensation depending on the outcome of the hearing into the 115 charges against Manchester City, the fallout could be seismic – and expensive.

It emerged this week that four rivals – Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur – had set in motion proceedings to seek compensation pending the outcome of the hearing.

But legal experts believe that many clubs will be awaiting the outcome with interest and preparing to take action.

“I find it very hard to believe only four clubs intend to claim compensation,” Stefan Borson, a corporate lawyer and former financial adviser to City, tells i.

“If you’re another club, you don’t know what the Independent Commission is going to say. It may be the commission has really interesting things to say relating to your club.

“All clubs will want to see what’s said first before establishing if they’ve got a claim and will have made sure they have protected their rights to be able to make that claim if the Independent Commission says things that give rise to a claim.”

Under Premier League rules, clubs are not permitted to sue each other directly in the courts. So in these unprecedented times clubs will, according to legal experts, have three routes to receiving compensation.

The Independent Commission – the three-person panel which holds City’s fate in its hands – hearing the current case against the club has within its remit the scope to assess and deal with claims from other clubs, and has the power to award “unlimited” compensation, according to Premier League rule W.51.5.

Individual clubs, or groups of them, could commence separate arbitration hearings, under Premier League rule X, to make financial claims against City. A new panel would be established to make a ruling in each separate case, hearing arguments from both sides and based on the evidence from the original hearing.

“This would be a completely confidential process and we may never know anything about it, unless the result was disclosed later in a set of club accounts,” Borson explains.

“That might be one reason a club might chose not to go down W.51.5 route and have the Independent Commission decide and publish its decision. If I was a club, I might like the idea that none of the details would come out, except in the accounts a year later.

Clubs can take separate action via the Football Association, under Rule K – for which there is precedent.

In the late 2000s, after a Premier League disciplinary commission fined West Ham for breaking third-party ownership rules which enabled them to buy Carlos Tevez – who scored the goals to help them avoid relegation in 2007 – relegated Sheffield United took a claim to a Premier League arbitration panel that they should have been docked points.

The panel ruled against Sheffield United, but the club took it to an FA rule K arbitration, which ruled in their favour. The clubs eventually settled out of court, with West Ham paying around £20m.

If option one is invoked, fans will learn about the outcome in the written reasons. If the latter two options are utilised, they are confidential processes and we may never know exactly what happened. Although some idea could be gleaned from the eagle-eyed football finance experts able to spot unusual payments in clubs’ annual accounts.

And option one may be problematic, due to the enormity of the fallout. The Independent Commission currently dealing with the 115 charges hearing could struggle to deal with a flurry of compensation claims if the substantial charges against City are proven.

“Theoretically it’s a massive can of worms,” Borson adds. And City could be on the hook for millions. “The numbers are potentially very big.”

City deny all wrongdoing. When they were charged in February 2023 the club released a statement saying: “Manchester City is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.

“The club welcomes the review of this matter by an Independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position. As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all.”

Many of the charges relate to the club failing to co-operate with the Premier League’s investigation. If these are the only ones proven, it will likely end the prospect of further action.

Compensation claims will come down to establishing and proving causation: what Team X did that was deemed a breach of the rules meant Team Y lost out on a Champions League place, or winning the Premier League title. That is, lawyers say, no easy task.

But if City are sanctioned for the more serious charges – of inflating sponsorship fees from companies linked to the club’s owner and failing to properly disclose payments to a manager and players – it will loosen enough of a thread to pull at, and clubs are preparing for that eventuality.

As well as proving causation, there is, Borson says, another line of attack. “In English law, there is also the concept of loss of a chance. If I was advising clubs I would be thinking about loss of a chance. It’s a potentially lower hurdle from a causation perspective.

“The other clubs may only need to prove it was a ‘real and substantial’ possibility of something happening – as opposed to a balance of probabilities – to win at least some of their alleged losses.”

The biggest losses would have fallen on clubs who missed out on winning Premier League titles or Champions League places.

During the time it is alleged City breached the rules, a season in the Champions League was worth around £30m-£50m per year.

Other losses could be established from sponsorship deals.

Even on the lower end of the scale, at the time in question Premier League places were worth around £1m-£2m more per place. So, technically, any team could argue they were due money in a particular season. That does not sound like something that will be sorted out overnight.

City, for a start, will almost certainly appeal if they are sanctioned for the more serious breaches.

“If the case goes against City, the claims process will take a very long time, it will be deeply complex, and it will be a real burden for the Independent Commission or Premier League arbitration processes, because they’ll have to deal with so many scenarios, disclosure exercises and assessment of loss,” Borson says.

“Each club is likely to need separate representation because all the claims will be different for each year – with a range of counterfactuals and pleaded cases on loss and causation.”

On days like Sunday, it’s natural to wonder whether Tottenham Hotspur will ever beat the “Spursy” accusations. Losing at home to previously winless Ipswich Town? It’s just who they are, mate.

Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to the Tractor Boys was simultaneously shocking and not shocking in the slightest. The past few weeks have neatly summed up the Spurs supporting experience: statement wins against Manchester City and Aston Villa, bookended by abject losses to teams currently positioned 17th and 18th in the Premier League. Let’s not even get into last Thursday’s debacle in Istanbul.

Ange Postecoglou’s team should be rebranded as Missed Opportunity FC. A victory over Ipswich, deemed the most likely result across the division’s 10 games last weekend by data gurus Opta, would have sent Spurs third in the table, ahead of rivals Arsenal and Chelsea on goal difference. Instead, they are 10th heading into the international break and 10 points worse off compared to this stage last season.

This was Tottenham’s third defeat in their last five league games and somehow worse than the preceding two: a bruising 3-2 beating at Brighton after establishing a two-goal headstart and a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace which gave the Eagles their first three points of the campaign.

An aspirational football team doesn’t concede three goals in 18 minutes against a top-four chasing rival or falter against two relegation candidates in a row. Or fall 1-0 behind in 13 home games out of 15 as Spurs have done in 2024.

“I love you, but you are not serious people,” quipped Logan Roy to his blundering children in Succession. Tottenham fans probably feel the same about their fallible heroes.

Perhaps it is time that the club replaced its Audere Est Facere (To Dare Is To Do) motto with something more appropriate. Inspiration for an alternative can be sourced from one of the player’s Instagram accounts after any disappointing setback: We Will Come Back Stronger.

All of Tottenham’s worst traits were on display on Sunday.

Radu Dragusin’s dreadful header that led to an Ipswich chance after 90 seconds set the tone for a painfully slow start. Cameron Burgess was the width of a crossbar away from scoring from a corner. The defence was sloppy when playing out from the back – Pedro Porro alone lost the ball 26 times. They were vulnerable to the counter-attack and gave away stupid free-kicks. They failed to create enough good chances (Ipswich had a higher xG from nine fewer attempts) and spurned the ones they did have.

It was a nightmarish display from back to front.

Previous Spurs managers would have hurled their players under the nearest double-decker after that kind of performance but, to his credit, Postecoglou fronted up and accepted the blame.

“That’s my responsibility,” he said. “The inconsistency we’re having this year, ultimately it comes down to me and my approach and something I need to try and fix and see if I can help the players in that area.”

At their best, Tottenham look like a top Champions League-level team. At their worst, they resemble a middling Championship side. There is no shortage of possible explanations for their tendency to veer so frequently from one extreme to the other, but an alarming lack of leadership feels like an obvious place to start.

Outstretched arms and pointed fingers followed both of Ipswich’s goals as Tottenham’s defenders took turns to abdicate responsibility. With the possible exception of Rodrigo Bentancur, nobody looked able or willing to drag their team back from the brink. Is Son Heung-min, brilliant as he is (was?), really captain material? Is the out-of-form Cristian Romero a worthy vice? James Maddison is third in command and can’t buy a start at the moment.

Postecoglou and his players warrant criticism for the team’s inconsistency, but when the club routinely falls into the same win-or-bust pattern season after season regardless of who is on the pitch or patrolling the dugout it suggests that there is a wider inherent problem.

Tottenham have won just one trophy – the League Cup in 2008 – during Enic’s 23-year ownership. Before 2001, they averaged a trophy win every seven-and-a-half seasons.

The idea that Spurs are historical bottlers is a myth. They were the first club to win the league and FA Cup double in the 20th century and the first English team to win a European trophy. Only Arsenal and Manchester United have lifted the FA Cup more times, despite their last success in the competition coming in 1991.

Their diminishing returns over the past two decades have coincided with the influx of oligarchs, hedge funds and Gulf states into English football, but it has also happened under Enic’s watch.

The pool of clubs with a realistic shot of winning a major trophy has depressingly shrunk, but still, Portsmouth, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic and Swansea City have all won one more recently than Spurs have.

Many fans believe that the ownership is more concerned with hosting making money – the stadium brought in £106m in matchday revenue alone during the 2021-22 season – than, you know, actually winning stuff.

The F1 and NFL logos fixed to the exterior of the club shop on Tottenham High Road are slightly smaller than the Spurs cockerel but still large enough to offer a permanent reminder that the football club is no longer the only priority.

If you didn’t know that Catfish and the Bottlemen are playing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, you obviously haven’t set foot inside it lately.

In his recently released autobiography, Hugo Lloris revealed that chairman Daniel Levy gifted every Spurs player a luxury aviator watch with the words “Champions League finalist” engraved on the back before the final against Liverpool in 2019. It’s an anecdote that reveals much about the club’s mindset and ambition.

“When I returned to my room on the night of the final, I think I had the same feeling as Mauricio [Pochettino] and Harry [Kane]: does the club really want to win?” Lloris said.

A series of bad decisions and head-in-the-sand communication has exacerbated the rift between the board and the fans. Tottenham are by no means the only Premier League club to slash concessions and hike up ticket prices, but they have even less justification for doing so than most. The decision to charge £60 for the upcoming Europa League fixture against Roma, almost double the cost of other group games, is the latest in a long line of PR own goals.

The Ipswich result rankled supporters so much because Spurs should be comfortably good enough to beat a struggling, newly-promoted team in their billion-pound home. The fact that they didn’t is proof of a soft mentality that has seeped down from the top.

Tottenham 1-2 Ipswich (Bentancur 69′ | Szmodics 31′, Delap 45′)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Whenever you think Tottenham Hotspur have turned a corner they manage to get themselves hopelessly lost and end up right back where they started.

Before the game, the term “Dr Tottenham” was trending on X, a familiar combination of words on the platform. It’s a spin on the tired “Spursy” jibe, an idea that any issues a team low on confidence and lacking points is facing can quickly be remedied by a trip to the Spurs surgery: Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace have both won their only Premier League games of this season against Ange Postecoglou’s side. Dr Tottenham indeed.

Beleagured underdogs Manchester City can take as much hope from this match as the Tractor Boys. Pep Guardiola’s side, who have lost four in a row – a sequence that began with a Carabao Cup defeat in this stadium – face Spurs immediately after the international break.

This was a significant afternoon for Ipswich, their first victory at this level since a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in April 2002. Liam Delap, the scorer of their decisive second goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and tormentor of World Cup winner Cristian Romero all afternoon, hadn’t even been born.

Kieran McKenna, the precocious manager who cut his coaching teeth at Tottenham after a playing career cut short, allowed himself a satisfied smile on the pitch at full-time as his boys in pink celebrated jubilantly in front of an equally elated away end.

It was a deserved win that edged them out of the bottom three. McKenna will hope it can act as a springboard for survival, but few teams will be as charitable as Spurs.

It was a wretched performance, devoid of heart, leadership and quality. Unsurprisingly there was deafening dissent at half-time. The boos were quieter at the end but only because thousands had already left. The international break at least provides a reprieve for supporters.

Tottenham’s powers of recovery in their own stadium have been pretty good, but there is only so long a team can avert disaster. Bad habits remain bad until they are rectified. Sammie Szmodics’s acrobatic overhead kick that put Ipswich in front was the 13th time that Spurs have fallen behind 1-0 in a home Premier League game in 2024.

They have conceded first in five consecutive games but unlike against Brentford, West Ham and Aston Villa there was no fightback to stir the senses. Ipswich’s lead was doubled before half-time when Delap lashed into the roof of the net from barely a yard out after Szmodics had wreaked more havoc down Tottenham’s right-hand side. This time the deficit was too great to overcome.

Within five minutes of the restart, the home faithful believed another comeback was on the cards when Dominic Solanke bundled in from close range. Joy and relief were shortlived when it was disallowed after replays showed that Solanke had unintentionally sliced the ball onto his own hand.

Rodrigo Benancur eventually gave the rescue mission lift-off. Everybody expected wave upon wave of attacks on Arijanet Muric to follow; there was barely a ripple.

Ipswich defended their penalty area brilliantly, both wing-backs tucking in dutifully to help the wide centre-backs and prevent Spurs from creating the one-on-one situations they thrive upon. Here’s the blueprint for blunting Angeball.

Their time-wasting, described as “strategic” by Postecoglou was frequent and infuriating but ultimately successful, swallowing up any momentum that Tottenham hoped to build after Bentancur’s thumping header.

Solanke was a game worker but none of Spurs’ creators showed up. Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson were stifled and the increasingly peripheral James Maddison, only summoned with six minutes of normal time remaining, barely had a kick. Ipswich supporters delighted in the ex-Canary’s misery.

The Premier League table is evidence of how baffling this Tottenham team have become. A goal difference of +10 is only bettered by league-leading Liverpool, and yet they have lost as many matches as they have won, five apiece since a draw at Leicester City in their opening game.

Postecoglou began the campaign by talking up his trophy-winning credentials in his second year at a club. On days like this, Spurs feel as far away from ending that drought as ever.

James Maddison was the cover star of Tottenham‘s official pre-match programme on Sunday with a comprehensive in-house interview spanning six pages within.

In it, Maddison spoke about feeling “alive on the pitch” and “as fit as I’ve ever felt”, of playing at a “high level” and the importance of dealing with setbacks, like missing out on England’s Euro 2024 squad, in the right way. All fairly vanilla stuff, typical club content fare.

Those words seemed more significant, though, when he was omitted from Ange Postecoglou‘s starting line-up for a crucial game against top four rivals Aston Villa on tactical grounds. If one of Tottenham’s most talented players is fit and on form, then why isn’t he being picked?

It was the first time this season that Maddison hadn’t started a Premier League game, but his minutes have dwindled in recent weeks.

While Postecoglou has frequently substituted Maddison off in the past – he has only completed 90 minutes once in his last 24 league appearances – the Australian has done so earlier than usual of late. In previous two league matches pre-Villa against West Ham and Crystal Palace, Maddison was withdrawn at half-time and after 61 minutes respectively.

He was also a spectator during Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, the club’s best result since Postecoglou was appointed 17 months ago.

It’s a peculiar situation for a senior player to be in. When Maddison joined from Leicester for £40m in 2023, he looked primed to become a pivotal part of the club’s rebuild under Postecoglou, even more so when Harry Kane left a few weeks later.

Postecoglou’s decision to appoint him as one of his two vice-captains (he’s third in command, behind Son Heung-min and Cristian Romero) further proved his importance to the project. But his status appears to have slipped with Postecoglou preferring different players with different profiles in his search to strike a better overall balance in the centre of the pitch.

“I just felt we needed some more running power in that midfield area,” Postecoglou explained after replacing Maddison with Pape Matar Sarr in the 4-1 win over West Ham last month.

He made the same point after the Villa victory when clarifying why he selected Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur as his starting midfield.

“I knew he [Sarr] would be important today because they’ve got such a hard-working midfield with [Amadou] Onana, [Youri] Tielemans and [John] McGinn in there, [Morgan] Rogers. They don’t really play with wide players, they work awfully hard in that midfield area and you’ve got to match that.”

Spurs’ balance certainly looks better when they have a sitter (Bentancur), a runner (Sarr) and a creator (Kulusevski), than when they have two playmakers. Spurs lost the midfield battle at Selhurst Park when Postecoglou picked Maddison and Kulusevski with Yves Bissouma behind them. Crystal Palace dominated the middle of the pitch which gave them the foundation to win the game.

Kulusevski’s move infield and excellent start to the campaign has presented a problem for Maddison. If there is only space for one of them in the team against high-energy opponents (ie most Premier League sides) the Swede is currently the favoured option.

Not only has Kulusevski created more chances per 90 minutes than Maddison so far this season (with 3.2 compared to 2.5), but he also offers a more combative, physical presence. “His running capacity is ridiculous,” Postecoglou said of Kulusevski last week.

That’s not to say that Maddison’s output has been poor. Far from it, in fact. He has scored three goals and provided three assists in 10 Premier League games this season, including that sensational free-kick against Villa as a late sub. According to Whoscored, Maddison has been the eighth-best performing player in the division so far based on underlying data. He has created as many chances as Mo Salah despite playing 190 fewer minutes than him.

Over the past 10 days, he has also reached two significant Premier League milestones, first joining the 200-appearance club and then scoring his 50th goal. At only 27, there should be plenty more landmarks to come.

Although Maddison will want to be a guaranteed starter, the fact he isn’t is a good thing for Postecoglou and Spurs and proof of their evolution. At the start of last season, the thought of Maddison being omitted from the team on tactical grounds would have seemed absurd given how brilliantly he started his Spurs career. It is no longer unthinkable with Postecoglou having a deeper midfield pool to pick from.

Christian Eriksen was the last natural No 10 that Spurs had before Maddison and the club’s failure to sign another playmaker during the Dane’s seven years in north London meant that he was overworked and overplayed. That isn’t the case now with Maddison and Kulusevski competing for one spot. If they end up sharing minutes it should ensure that they remain fresher and able to contribute more effectively.

Whether Maddison is happy to play a more scaled-down role is another matter, though.

A proud Englishman, he will be desperate to force his way back into the national squad under Thomas Tuchel but with competition fierce at the top end of the pitch, he will only do so if he is playing consistently. He’s not the type of player who will be happy to sit on the bench.

“It’s important that you enjoy what you do, and you love what you do,” he said in the Spurs programme. “I always say and people are probably bored hearing it, but I love football.”

He is clearly a popular player in the squad too. After bending the free-kick into the top corner of Emi Martinez’s net, Maddison was mobbed by his teammates with even Guglielmo Vicario joining in the huddle.

He is a leader and a reference point for younger players in the squad, including Brennan Johnson, his best friend at the club, and the precociously gifted teenager Mikey Moore who he has spoken glowingly about.

After the final whistle was blown on Sunday, Postecoglou made a beeline for Maddison and wrapped him up in a bear hug in a public show of affection. There is clearly much about Maddison’s game that his boss likes. Now his challenge is to reinforce his position as a pivotal part of Postecoglou’s plans.

Tottenham 4-1 Aston Villa (Johnson 49′, Solanke 75′, 79′, Maddison 90+5′ \ Rogers 32′)

When Dominic Solanke signed for Spurs in August, he would have dreamed of days like Sunday. Of scoring in front of the vast south stand, celebrating with a nod to his beloved anime and hearing all four corners of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium singing his name.

The moment duly arrived during a thrilling 4-1 comeback win over Aston Villa in which Solanke scored the decisive second and third goals. His Spurs career has lift off.

When Brennan Johnson nipped in ahead of Solanke to convert Son Heung-min’s sumptuous cross to the back post it seemed symptomatic of the £65m striker’s spell in north London. At times, Solanke has looked cursed, arriving either a split second ahead or behind the ball as it spins and squirms out of his reach in the six-yard box.

Before Sunday, Solanke had gone six games without a goal and taken only three shots on goal in that time. His relentless work off the ball meant that Spurs supporters had taken to him anyway, but a goal or two always helps to strengthen that connection.

Here was proof that he can offer both endeavour and end product. His first finish which turned the game in Tottenham’s favour was exquisite, a delightful dink over the onrushing Emi Martinez as Dejan Kulusevski’s cute defence-splitting pass rolled across his body.

Even in a fallow period, Solanke’s striker’s instincts have remained sharp. He didn’t look up once. The goalposts don’t move.

Solanke’s second that followed just four minutes after his first might have pleased Postecoglou even more. He was in the right place at the right time to bundle in Richarlison’s cut-back in front of an empty net.

The simple finishes are ones that strikers cherish, a reward for the hours spent honing their instincts and timing their runs on the training pitch. Solanke followed the ball into the net.

The goals will lift a weight from Solanke’s shoulders, but they will not change him. Four minutes into 10 added on he hurtled back towards his own goal to dispossess Pau Torres and initiate a Spurs counter-attack midway through Aston Villa’s half. It was a moment that sparked more adulation from the stands and applause from his manager.

Solanke made more successful pressures in the final third than any other Premier League player last season. It was a big reason why Postecoglou wanted him. Spurs press high in a bid to win the ball as close to their opposition’s goal as possible and so bought the best pressing forward in the division.

The big question mark over Solanke when he joined was whether he could successfully fill the goalscoring void that opened up when Harry Kane left. A strike rate of four in eight league matches looks far healthier than two from seven did.

Before Solanke’s clinical chip, it was unclear how a seven-day period in which Spurs had lost dismally at Selhurst Park and beaten Manchester City magnificently would end. Spurs spent large swathes of the first-half camped in Aston Villa’s half before succumbing to a familiar frailty as Morgan Rogers became the latest beneficiary of their set-piece sloppiness.

Johnson’s goal was perfectly timed, arriving less than five minutes after Spurs had been booed off at half-time. It was the Welshman’s seventh club goal of the campaign and encapsulated his own turnaround in fortunes after facing fierce criticism in the early autumn.

Solanke’s double took the game away from Aston Villa, but James Maddison had the final say with a sublime free-kick that left Martinez statuesque. It was a lovely moment for Maddison who had been left out of the starting line-up and only summoned late on with his side already 3-1 up.

Spurs have now won nine of their last 11 matches in all competitions and are now just two points behind their north London neighbours Arsenal in fourth.

As Freed From Desire bellowed from the speakers, it was difficult to shake the feeling that momentum is finally building, for both Spurs and their centre forward.

Tottenham Hotspur’s meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday will see two of the Premier League‘s most in-form young players take centre stage, just three years on from lighting up League One together.

Brennan Johnson, 23, has shrugged off criticism from Spurs supporters to become a key player and leading goalscorer for Ange Postecoglou’s side, netting six goals in all competitions.

Morgan Rogers, 22, meanwhile has emerged as the perfect foil to Ollie Watkins in Villa’s attack and is now one of the first names on Unai Emery’s teamsheet, starting all 12 of their league and Champions League fixtures so far.

The pair have come a long way quickly since starring for Lincoln City in the 2020-21 season in what was a defining period early on in both of their careers.

Johnson joined The Imps on loan at the end of the summer window having made fewer than 10 appearances for Nottingham Forest with Rogers, then of Manchester City, following in January.

They were well regarded in academy circles and highly sought after in the EFL, but Lincoln, in their second season in League One, persuaded the duo that their development would be best served with them.

Michael Appleton, the club’s manager at the time, was key to the sales pitch. He knew Johnson’s father David from their time as youngsters at Manchester United and had a reputation for providing opportunities to young players as a head coach.

Geography played its part too, with Forest close by and both players born and raised in the midlands. So did the persistence of Jez George, the club’s director of football.

“It’s not hard to identify the most talented young players in the country. The hardest bit is to get them to come to you over all the other clubs,” George tells i.

“I must have rung Gary Brazil [Nottingham Forest’s former academy manager] about 50 times during the transfer window and we signed Brennan when the season had already started. I had that dilemma of how long do we wait? Is he worth waiting for? We made the judgement that the squad was pretty solid but that Brennan would give us the X-factor.”

Lincoln had to be even more patient with Rogers. City were unwilling to loan him out in the summer but softened their stance in the winter once it became clear that he had outgrown academy football.

“Sometimes in this world you might not get a target in one window but the work means you might get them further down the line,” George says. “The case study we had with Brennan from the first half of the season when he had done very, very well helped us enormously.”

First loans can make or break a young prospect, either accelerating their progress or sending them hurtling back to square one. Lots of things need to fall into place for a loan to be a success; very little needs to go wrong for it to be a disaster. For Johnson and Rogers, those spells in Lincolnshire helped forge their paths to the top of the Premier League.

“The biggest thing was that they played games,” George says. “Young players need an opportunity to play and they need some backing.

“We can retrofit those two players in that season and think they were absolutely outstanding for every minute of every game but that’s obviously not the truth. They had dips and moments where maybe if they were at a bigger club with bigger expectations they would probably have come out of the team.

“What Michael deserves great credit for is that he kept them in the team. We saw them as match winners, so even if they had a quiet hour or 70 minutes, they could find one moment to score or create a goal to make a massive difference for us.”

A 4-0 thrashing of MK Dons in April, which galvanised a faltering promotion push, epitomised their devastating double act. Johnson scored his first, and so far only, senior hat-trick; Rogers set up the first two and won the penalty for Johnson’s match ball clinching third. Their opponents couldn’t live with them, but few teams in the division could.

“Both of them were just such a massive threat in League One,” George adds. “It’s not just about what a player does in terms of goals and assists, it’s how they make opponents feel and they were threatened by the pace and power of these two. That had a massive impact on how we could play. We were very, very good away from home on the counter-attack.”

Johnson contributed 11 goals and five assists in 43 games, while Rogers managed six goals and two assists in 28 as Lincoln finished 5th, recording their highest league finish in 39 years. They eliminated Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals but a stunning season ended in despair at Wembley when they were beaten by Blackpool.

The tragedy for Lincoln fans is that Covid robbed them of the opportunity to see their club’s best team in decades in in person, their memories of Johnson and Rogers running rings around full-backs formed by watching them on laptop screens instead of from the stands at Sincil Bank.

Nevertheless, Lincoln can justifiably take great satisfaction from what Johnson, Rogers and others including Nottingham Forest left-back Harry Toffolo have gone on to achieve.

“As soon as they arrived you could see that they were good lads, super talented but really humble and they fitted in really quickly,” George says. “They were serious about their football and came with a real focus on delivering. There wouldn’t be one person at Lincoln who’d have a bad word to say about either of them because of that.”

Their success has helped George market the club as an ideal stepping stone for up-and-coming prospects; Lincoln currently have the fourth-youngest squad in League One.

In recent years, they have pivoted away from loaning other top youngsters from Premier League clubs to focus on bringing in players permanently or developing them in their own academy.

“We haven’t got the finances to sign players who have been there, seen it and done it or top players at this level who have played 200 games. So for us it’s future top players that we have to try and sign,” George says.

It’s a strategy that has started to pay off with defender Sean Roughan and strikers Freddie Draper and Jovon Makama all rising through the club’s category 2 academy and into Michael Skubala’s first-team squad.

“The exciting thing for the club is that they are now our players rather than us doing it for another club,” George says.

“With Brennan and Morgan we got the immediate benefit of having two outstanding talents in our team.

“Our aim now is to have outstanding talents who are Lincoln’s and then we can benefit when they develop and reinvest in the club to continue to make it stronger.”

Manchester City could be without as many as 10 players for Saturday’s Premier League match against Bournemouth, with Pep Guardiola saying his side were “in trouble” and claiming he has only 13 outfield players available as the injury woes at the Etihad continue.

Chasing a record-extending fifth straight league title, the reigning champions are the only unbeaten side in the division and sit top of the table heading into this weekend’s fixtures.

But a burgeoning injury crisis – worsened during City’s midweek Carabao Cup loss – could be threatening to derail that title defence ahead of a busy winter period.

The club already have six confirmed absentees, and Savinho and Manuel Akanji are the latest names who may now be facing a spell on the sidelines. The former left the field on a stretcher following a knock to his ankle in the second half, with the latter forced to withdraw from the starting line-up after aggravating a muscle issue in the warm-up.

Poking further holes in a backline already bereft of club captain Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol required treatment after Wednesday’s match in north London while Ruben Dias was said by his manager to be “struggling.”

Here are the latest updates on all the recent and ongoing injuries for City, as well as how Guardiola’s men could line up against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Rodri

The Ballon D’Or winning midfielder has been absent since his withdrawal early on in City’s clash against Arsenal in September with a knee injury.

City have since confirmed Rodri underwent surgery – “ACL and some meniscus,” according to Guardiola – and that their star Spaniard will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Possible return date: Unknown

Oscar Bobb

Another long-term absentee is promising academy product Oscar Bobb.

The 21-year-old Norwegian winger looked set for a breakout campaign after standout performances in pre-season, but fractured his leg in training a week prior to City’s opener against Chelsea and was subsequently ruled out until at least the new year.

Guardiola has said more recently that the timeline for Bobb’s return could extend until February, with the player himself speaking publicly about his injury for the first time last week.

“It’s been just over two months now and we knew it was a long injury so I’m just focusing on getting a bit better every day and getting back,” Bobb told The National.

“Not as soon as possible, but as strong as possible. It was unfortunate, [but] I didn’t think of it as that bad just because I’ve seen loads of my friends get big injuries and a lot of them have come back stronger.

“So, I thought of it more as a pause rather than a setback.”

Possible return date: January – February 2025

Jack Grealish

Next comes a batch of players who have been out for varying lengths of time already this season and are expected to return before the likes of Rodri and Bobb, but for whom City’s trip to the Vitality Stadium will come too soon.

Among them is Jack Grealish, who earned his England spot back while enjoying a resurgence of form but hasn’t played since City’s late win over Wolves last month.

The former Aston Villa winger’s issue is an unspecified one, reportedly suffered in training after that match, which Guardiola initially said would put him out of action for a week or so – but it now looks set to keep him sidelined until later this month, with City’s home tie against Spurs on 23 November earmarked as a possible return date.

“No chance to play the next games,” was the City manager’s most recent comment on the matter.

Possible return date: 23 November

Kyle Walker

That update, from Guardiola’s post-match press conference during the week, applied to Kyle Walker as well.

City’s captain and veteran right-back has been out since the last international break while he deals with a niggling knee injury reportedly picked up on England duty.

Like his countryman, it looks like Walker will have to wait until after the next international break – November 11-19 – to make his return, leaving Guardiola with “no alternative” to the impressive but tiring Rico Lewis.

Possible return date: 23 November

Kevin de Bruyne

City’s creator-in-chief – who also missed a significant chunk of last season after undergoing surgery for a hamstring issue – was forced off with a groin injury at half-time of the Champions League campaign-opening stalemate against Inter Milan in September and has not featured since.

De Bruyne was initially projected by Guardiola to return after the October internationals, but as of this week the Belgian was still experiencing “discomfort” in training and is now eyeing up a potential comeback after the November international break instead.

Speaking this week about when his top playmaker might take to the field again, the City boss said: “I would like to tell you, I especially would like to know, but I don’t know.

“He feels better to train but to go to the level we need for competition he still has pain.

“If he doesn’t come back as quick as possible we will struggle. Hopefully that can happen after the international break.”

Possible return date: 23 November

Jéremy Doku

Rounding out the group ruled out until late November is Jeremy Doku.

The 22-year-old Belgium international is believed to have picked up his knock against Wolves on 20 October, and Guardiola has said he doesn’t expect the winger to return before the upcoming international break.

Possible return date: late November – early December

Savinho

As for the bunch that came away from City’s league cup loss worse for wear, Savinho was in tears as he was stretchered off with an apparent ankle injury on Wednesday.

Asked post-match about the Brazilian’s prognosis, Guardiola said: “We have to see if it [is] just a knock or something else, because it was on the bone. Hopefully it’s nothing dangerous, but we’ll see [on Thursday].”

Sources close to the player then reportedly said the knock was “nothing serious” and “just a scare” – but with Guardiola having offered no other significant insight, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be fit enough to take part at the weekend.

Asked for updates on the club’s injury situation, the City boss told reporters on Friday that he had “many doubts” and players who were “half-half” in terms of their availability, but refused to elaborate, adding: “Tomorrow you will know.”

He did confirm that Savinho was among those doubts and that the player had suffered a “strong” knock, but that there was “no fracture.”

Possible return date: 2 November

Manuel Akanji

Despite reportedly dealing with an unspecified muscular problem, Akanji was named in the starting line-up for the midweek cup clash with Spurs.

But the Swiss international aggravated the issue – reportedly involving his groin – in the warm-up and was subsequently replaced in the City XI by Dias.

Guardiola explained afterwards: “Akanji yesterday [in the] last action felt something in a muscular part of his body and today in the warm-up he didn’t feel good. He said, ‘No, I can take the risk’. I said, ‘Nuh-uh, no risk’.”

Akanji told Sky News on Thursday that he was hoping to be back in training on Friday and in contention to face Bournemouth on Saturday.

But there were no updates either way from his manager in Friday’s press conference.

Possible return date: 2 November

Josko Gvardiol

Gvardiol was on the turf at the end of Wednesday’s loss, and received treatment from the club’s medical staff after appearing to be in some discomfort.

Asked on Wednesday if the Croatian – a half-time substitute – was injured, Guardiola told the media: “I don’t know, I didn’t speak [with him]. Every time I went in [the dressing room], [someone] was on the table [having] a massage, it was too busy, too crowded. So I don’t know.”

The player himself appeared to alleviate any fears of a serious injury, though, posting on social media after the match: “Thanks for the support. We keep moving forward with full focus on Saturday!”

Possible return date: 2 November

Ruben Dias

Dias replaced Akanji in the starting line-up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but was then replaced himself (by Gvardiol) at half-time.

Speaking post-match about his Portuguese centre-back, Guardiola said: “Ruben is struggling sometimes as well in some moments. It’s been getting more difficult game by game; maybe we will be all back together at some point.”

There were no further updates provided in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.

Possible return date: 2 November

How could Man City line up against Bournemouth?

With six first-team players confirmed out and the participation of several more in doubt, City’s thinning ranks are “in trouble” ahead of their Saturday 3pm kick-off on the south coast.

Speaking after his side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, Guardiola said: “We have 13 [available] players, so we are in real difficulty. The guys that play, they finish most of them with problems and we’ll see how they recover.

He continued: “I think when we are in trouble, like we are – because in nine years it has never happened this situation with many, many injuries for many, many reasons – in these situations, the players they make a step forward and they are more together than ever and they will try to do this week in this short time to recover.

“It’s only that how many players we have able, but we have the academy and if the seniors cannot be there, we’ll do it. We’re going to Bournemouth to compete.”

A glance at the first-team squad list on City’s official website supports the Spaniard’s claim of having only 13 fit outfield players – including one yet to make his Premier League debut – if indeed Gvardiol and Dias are available this weekend.

They are:

Defenders

Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, John Stones, Joshua Wilson-Esbrand

Midfielders

Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan, Mateo Kovacic, James McAtee, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva

Forwards:

Erling Haaland

Judging by Guardiola’s comments, whatever problems arose for the aforementioned pair midweek would appear to have been minor, suggesting they should be available for selection against Bournemouth.

Nathan Ake would be an able deputy if Guardiola were to opt for giving Gvardiol a rest, though, ahead of a busy week that sees City face two Premier League road games either side of a trip to Sporting Lisbon.

Gvardiol is enjoying a strong run of form, with three goals in his last four matches, but his manager’s wishful comments regarding rotation in the other full-back position could suggest changes are on the cards.

Phil Foden and Matheus Nunes will be in line to keep their starting berths in the absence of Doku, Grealish and Savinho, most likely lining up either side of Erling Haaland.

Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are the most experienced midfield trio and could be Guardiola’s preferred choices in the middle of the park to avoid an upset at the hands of the Cherries like title-chasing rivals Arsenal suffered two weeks ago.

But there could well be places in the squad for the likes of 18-year-old Jahmai Simpson-Pusey – who came on for his senior debut at Spurs during the week – as well as fellow youngsters Nico O’Reilly, Jacob Wright and James McAtee.

Man City predicted line-up vs Bournemouth

Ederson; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ake; Kovačić, Gundogan, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Nunes

Tottenham have been rewarded for their 2-1 win over Manchester City with a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United.

Spurs raced into a 2-0 lead over the Premier League leaders through Timo Werner and Pape Matar Sarr, holding on despite only managing 31 per cent possession.

Meanwhile, United started their new manager bounce early against Leicester, scoring four goals in a half for the first time since 2022 en route to a 5-2 victory.

Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim will almost certainly be in post for the quarter-finals, but this was a resounding win to kick off the Ruud van Nistelrooy era, however short that may be.

Elsewhere, Newcastle took revenge over Chelsea with a 2-0 win at St James’ Park after the Blues had beaten the Magpies at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Eddie Howe’s side are aiming to reach their second Carabao Cup final in three years after losing to Manchester United at Wembley in 2023.

Meanwhile, Crystal Palace’s surprise victory over Aston Villa reinforced Oliver Glasner’s reputation as a cup specialist, although Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton went off injured.

And their reward for that win is a visit to the Emirates to face an Arsenal side who breezed past Preston thanks to a sumptuous goal from Ethan Nwaneri, who is rapidly making this competition his own at just 17.

Carabao Cup quarter-final draw in full

Games will take place the week of 16 December

Tottenham vs Manchester United

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Newcastle vs Brentford

Southampton vs Liverpool

The final last eight tie – set to take place on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 December – will take place at St Mary’s, where Southampton will host Liverpool.

Russell Martin’s side took advantage of a kind draw against Championship side Stoke to earn a morale-boosting victory thanks to James Bree’s late winner.

For Liverpool, a 3-2 scoreline belies their dominance against Brighton, with Cody Gakpo’s brace making this a comfortable win for the holders as Arne Slot searches for his first piece of English silverware.

Victory in the quarter-finals will earn these clubs a place in the two-legged semi-finals, while take place in early January and February, before the final at Wembley on 16 March 2025.

Tottenham 2-1 Man City (Werner 5′, Sarr 25′ | Nunes 45+4)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Ange Postecoglou has a mannerism when he realises Tottenham are in need of some metaphorical chest-puffing, his voice becoming ever so slightly gravellier. It is usually followed by a reminder that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club.

There was little choice but to take the visit of Manchester City seriously, but amid the euphoria as Spurs march into the last eight of the Carabao Cup it cannot be overstated at how heavy a price this tie came for both sides.

The sight of Micky van de Ven leaving the pitch in tears, clutching his leg after just 14 minutes, was deeply troubling and risks leaving Postecoglou hamstrung for a vital string of games. Call it stubborn, principled or dogmatic, but Spurs’ pulsating way of operating is utterly dependent on Van de Ven’s pace. Without him, there is no safety net.

Pep Guardiola has countless worries of his own as he conceded afterwards that “we are in real difficulty” regarding injuries. Manuel Akanji was forced off in the warm-up and Savinho ended his night on a stretcher, at a time when City are already missing Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku, among others.

These are the inevitable sub-plots to a schedule that has prioritised profit over player welfare.

The mood around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was nevertheless euphoric as Postecoglou’s men marched into the last eight. Inside six minutes, Timo Werner had buried the type of chance that you suspect, had he had time to think about, he might have missed. Instead, the assist from Dejan Kulusevski was timed so perfectly that there were just seconds between Brennan Johnson’s flick up the pitch and the goal.

Pape Matar Sarr’s curling effort was even more exquisite, one of those strikes that gets a second sigh of contentment when it is replayed on the big screens. Spurs’ corners have received scrutiny of late but Kulusevski and Werner worked together, before the Swede found Sarr 20 yards out.

Once Van de Ven had departed, City’s breakthrough was inevitably created down the flank where he had been deputising. Replacement left-back Destiny Udogie was unable to keep up with Savinho and Matheus Nunes was waiting unattended at the far post. Cristian Romero’s substitution did little to settle the nerves.

Asked if the Argentine was also taken off due to injury, Postecoglou confirmed: “Yeah. Obviously Micky felt something in his hamstring, I haven’t got the full update on him, but he definitely felt something so we’ll see how he is. Cuti [Romero] was a bit tight, I was contemplating taking him off at half time.

“Losing Micky as well, I didn’t want to lose another centre-half. He said he felt ok but my gut was telling me I didn’t want to take a risk.”

Guardiola had at least been able to seize the opportunity to rest some of his key men, though Phil Foden as a false nine struggled to cut through.

A makeshift City line-up should not take away from Spurs’ achievement. A year ago, Postecoglou was lambasted for failing to take this competition seriously in a second-round exit at Fulham, consequently squandering his side’s best hope of silverware.

Now two rounds from Wembley, a first trophy since 2008 is once again within touching distance.