Between The Posts

It was truly a game of two halves, a game that highlighted the attacking strengths and defensive vulnerabilities of both teams. However, City capitalized on their opportunity, while Tottenham Hotspur failed to do the same. Nonetheless, a few standout performances from young talents on both sides would have surely left Pep Guardiola and Ange Postecoglou encouraged.

Tactical analysis and match report by Rahul Madhavan.

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Both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City’s seasons hadn’t gone as planned, but this late February clash felt like a crucial opportunity for both sides to steer their campaigns in the right direction.

For Tottenham, doubts have surfaced over Ange Postecoglou following a poor run in the league. Injuries has significantly impacted their form, but sitting in the bottom half of the table after 25 games was far from what the Spurs faithful had envisioned. However, recent victories over Manchester United and Ipswich Town in the span of a week would have certainly provided a much-needed confidence boost.

Postecoglou made two changes from their recent win against Ipswich. Guglielmo Vicario retained his place in goal, while Pedro Porro returned to the backline ahead of Djed Spence, joining Kevin Danso, Archie Gray, and Destiny Udogie. In midfield, Lucas Bergvall partnered Rodrigo Bentancur, with James Maddison slotting into his preferred No. 10 role. Wilson Odobert earned his first start after a lengthy injury spell, while Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel completed the attack.

Meanwhile, Manchester City were also looking to regain momentum after a difficult three-month stretch that saw them slip from title contention to merely fighting for a top-four spot. Defeats to Real Madrid in the Champions League and Liverpool in the league had dented their confidence, but given the quality of both opponents, those losses were somewhat understandable. But a victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium—a ground where they have historically struggled—would propel them back into the top four.

Guardiola also made some changes following their recent defeat to Liverpool. Ederson remained in goal, while Rúben Dias and Matheus Nunes replaced Nathan Aké and Rico Lewis in defense, alongside Abdukodir Khusanov and Joško Gvardiol. In midfield, Nico González partnered Mateo Kovačić for the first time, while Guardiola opted for a dynamic front four featuring Savinho, Jérémy Doku, Omar Marmoush, and Erling Haaland.

Move through Jérémy Doku and Savinho

Pep Guardiola’s front four suggested a more direct approach against Spurs’ high press. That has been a recurring trend for City lately, as they have adopted a more direct style against teams that use a man-oriented structure out of possession.

Initially, Guardiola instructed Matheus Nunes to invert alongside Mateo Kovačić in their usual 3-2 shape, while González played higher on the left to link up with Jérémy Doku. The game plan was straightforward—City’s primary creative outlets were on the flanks, supported by two players who thrive inside the box. The idea was to get the ball wide and capitalize on the movement of Haaland and Marmoush.

However, Spurs’ pressing also worked in City’s favor. With Maddison and Bergvall pushing high to press City’s midfield pivots, Bentancur—positioned as the screen in front of the center-backs—was left with too much ground to cover against the movements of González and Marmoush. This also meant Udogie and Porro were frequently left in one-versus-one battles against Doku and Savinho, a matchup that strongly favored City. Many of their early chances stemmed from exploiting this, as they consistently found the Belgian winger in space.

How did City progress through the thirds? With their back three and midfield pivots tightly marked, they usually used Ederson as the spare man in build-up. The goalkeeper played precise, low passes into the feet of Haaland and Marmoush, who drew defenders in before releasing the wide players against the isolated full-backs. If Maddison or Bergvall failed to step up and block Ederson’s passing lanes, City easily bypassed Spurs’ press by using the man advantage. This exact approach led to their opening goal in the 11th minute.

Minute 11: Build up to Manchester City’s goal. Ederson, acting as the spare man, fizzes a pass into the dropping Omar Marmoush. With Bentancur covering the passing lane to Erling Haaland, Danso steps up to engage Marmoush but fails to win the duel. The Egyptian then turns and finds the isolated Savinho.

From there, City’s movement and intelligence take over. Marmoush immediately makes an overlapping run, dragging Udogie with him. Meanwhile, Haaland drops deeper to link play, using the free man, González, to connect with Doku. As City outnumber Spurs in attack, the hosts are forced to retreat, following which Doku picked out Haaland’s run for a simple tap-in.

Meanwhile, City’s right-sided dynamics worked slightly differently. Savinho’s ability to attract defenders created space for both Marmoush and Nunes. With Marmoush focusing on adding numbers in the box, it was Nunes’ powerful running that was used effectively to exploit the gap. His underlapping runs, especially when Savinho was double marked, provided City with a valuable attacking outlet down the right as well.

Ultimately, it was a half of controlled dominance for the visitors. Doku alone created three big chances, while Spurs managed just one shot on goal, which came from a set-piece.

An improved Spurs half

Spurs struggled to gain momentum in the first half, but they had opportunities to exploit City’s setup. As he did last season, Guardiola instructed his wingers to press the center-backs, while Marmoush and Haaland stayed central to mark Bentancur and either Maddison or Bergvall when they dropped deep. With Porro pushing higher up the pitch and Udogie tucking in as a wide center-back in possession, Spurs primarily looked to build through the right flank.

Early on, Doku had difficulty timing his press against the center-backs, allowing them to carry the ball forward comfortably and find Porro. This led to a recurring two-versus-one situation against Gvardiol, but Spurs struggled to capitalize due to misplaced passes and a lack of rhythm in possession. Around the half-hour mark, Guardiola adjusted his pressing structure, instructing Doku to track Porro instead of pressing higher. As a result, Postecoglou was forced to tweak Spurs’ attacking approach in the second half, a change that proved effective.

The hosts were aided by City’s increasingly disjointed press. Haaland and Marmoush struggled to find the balance between pressing the center-backs and sitting back, which allowed Spurs to find Bergvall and Maddison with ease. Maddison, in particular, grew into the game and became highly influential.

City also struggled physically, frequently losing possession in midfield. All these issues have plagued Guardiola’s side this season, and they persisted as Postecoglou introduced Heung-Min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Djed Spence, and Pape Sarr around the hour mark.

Spurs’ attacking dynamics shifted after the break, as they focused on getting Odobert (and later Son) against Nunes on the left flank rather than relying on direct passes to Johnson on the right. After the substitutions, Maddison, Son, and Spence became heavily involved in the buildup, posing problems that City struggled to contain through Nunes and Savinho.

Minute 68: Spurs’ attacking strategy and City’s defensive struggles: Haaland and Marmoush showed little urgency in pressing the center-backs, allowing Spurs’ second line to step into space and receive the ball. Spence’s pace became a major factor, as his overlapping runs created difficulties for Nunes. The gap between City’s midfield and backline was also evident—when Spence received a pass from Son, he had the time and space to cut the ball back to Sarr, who was unmarked but failed to convert the chance.

City had opportunities on the break, but poor decision-making from their young attacking lineup didn’t do Guardiola any favors. In response, he turned to the experience of Phil Foden, Ilkay Gündoğan and Bernardo Silva to see out the game. Despite a few late scares, they did just that, securing a crucial victory to strengthen their top-four ambitions.

Takeaways

This may not have been Tottenham Hotspur’s best performance by any stretch, but Postecoglou’s men certainly deserved something from the game. After a lackluster first half, a shift in approach and the introduction of experienced players saw them improve. However, once again, they failed to capitalize on key chances when it mattered most. Still, they will take plenty of positives into their crucial Europa League clash against AZ Alkmaar next week.

For Manchester City, the result was vital. Guardiola will be encouraged by the performances of his new signings and young talents. Doku proved he also has the final ball in his locker, while Savio continued to shine. Khusanov, Marmoush, and González also showed promising signs, fitting into City’s evolving squad as they prepare for a summer rebuild. In the past, City have faltered when the opposition gained momentum, but this time, they stood firm—something that will also please Guardiola.

Pep Guardiola’s side had most of the ball and were probably unfortunate not to score in this game, but the glaring problem was once again their defensive play as Tottenham Hotspur shredded through their pressing and counterpressing to earn a four-goal victory in Manchester.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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After the positive news of Pep Guardiola’s contact extension last week, Manchester City hosted Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, looking to end their four-game losing streak. Spurs themselves were enduring mixed fortunes prior to this game, having lost their last two games against Ipswich and Galatasaray.

City lined up in a 4-3-3 shape, with a back four of Kyle Walker, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, and Joško Gvardiol. Rico Lewis joined İlkay Gündoğan and Bernardo Silva in central midfield, while the front three comprised of Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, and Savinho.

Spurs also used a 4-3-3 shape, with Pedro Porro, Radu Drăgușin, Ben Davies, and Destiny Udogie in the backline. Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, and James Maddison started in midfield, while Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min flanked Dominic Solanke up front.

Pep’s attacking fullbacks

Guardiola has been known as the coach who brought inverted fullbacks into fashion as a tool to improve his team’s control of the midfield and reinforce the rest-defense. However, in this game, Walker and Gvardiol played as attacking fullbacks, as Guardiola tried to find a fresh approach for City.

With the fullbacks advancing forward, Lewis and Bernardo Silva would drop deeper in the halfspaces when City had the ball in order to provide options for ball circulation and try to protect against counter-attacks. Gündoğan then effectively played as the number six when City had the ball.

City’s 2-3-5 shape with the fullbacks providing attacking width.

City were actually relatively lively in the opening minutes, with the attacking fullbacks helping stretch Spurs’ defense, and Foden and Savinho being released to move inside in the halfspaces in order to receive the ball in pockets behind Spurs’ midfield in their 4-1-4-1 defensive shape.

Lewis, Gündoğan, and Bernardo Silva did indeed provide some decent ball circulation and progression for City, and Haaland had a couple of early sights of goal. It seemed as if City were on top.

However, the drawback of having primarily playmakers in the rest-defense, and letting your physically stronger rest-defence players such as Walker and Gvardiol advance forward is that the defensive transition is inevitably weakened. As the first half went on, this issue started to reveal itself, whereby Spurs were able to play through City’s midfield counterpress and start to pose problems in transition. Walker and Gvardiol being so high up the pitch could also leave them exposed in wide areas.

City’s defensive woes

In the last game against Brighton, City’s defending in the second half was highly concerning, as their high defensive line paired with inadequate pressure on the ball left them exposed to Brighton’s vertical attacking play.

In this game, defensive problems were once again present for City. They defended in a 4-4-2 shape, with Foden joining Haaland in the first line, while Lewis shifted into a right midfield position, leaving Gündoğan and Bernardo Silva to occupy the central midfield.

City tried to press aggressively as usual. However, there was once again the issue of the midfield being too open when Spurs were able to force passes through the center. Once City’s first line of pressing was broken, the ball seemed to pass through their midfield far too easily. Pointing out that City miss the athleticism and defensive nous of Rodri is cliché at this point, but the course of this match makes it unavoidable to mention.

Spurs were able to break through City’s press often, with good dynamics on the left side between Udogie, Maddison, and Son.

Spurs were not timid in their approach when they had the ball. Ange Postecoglou’s side played out from the back and were unafraid to take risks to get the ball through tight spaces in their own half.

Bissouma was the deepest midfielder in their 4-3-3 formation, with Sarr and Maddison ahead of him. Maddison often dropped deeper to provide his technical skills in the left halfspace during Spurs’ buildup though. This movement would be paired with forward runs from Udogie which caused problems for City in the left halfspace on a couple of occasions. Son would usually be high and wide, occupying Walker and usually getting the better of him.

Spurs liked to use vertical passes into Son in order to progress the ball. Son would hold the ball up against Walker, before trying to find a pass back inside to an onrushing Udogie, or Solanke as a target man.

Spurs add insult to injury

Tottenham went in 2-0 up at half-time thanks to two Maddison goals in quick succession in the first half. The first saw him ghost in at the back post behind Walker, while the second resulted from a poor turnover from City in their own half.

Guardiola reshuffled his side slightly going into the second half. First, Nathan Aké replaced Stones to partner Akanji in defense. Further forward, Foden and Savinho switched sides, as did Lewis and Bernardo Silva.

City’s structure on the ball was pretty much the same, but with different player roles. Walker now remained deeper in the right halfspace as part of the rest defense, while Savinho held the width on the right. Bernardo Silva played in the right halfspace, Foden in the left halfspace, and Gvardiol continued to provide width on the left.

It seemed like a slightly more sensible arrangement of players. However, before it could prove its worth, City went three down, essentially putting the game to bed. This time it was Porro shooting powerfully past Ederson to make it 3-0.

City would dominate the ball in the second half, as Spurs defended a bit deeper. They were able to get some decent service to Haaland and were probably unlucky not to score at least once. Although they did not create any huge chances, they had enough shots from good areas that they probably find the net on a different day.

A 3-0 defeat at home was already bad enough for City, but things got worse in stoppage time as fresh-legged substitute Timo Werner motored past Walker and crossed the ball low to fellow substitute Brennan Johnson, who tapped in at the back post to make it 4-0 to Spurs.

Takeaways

The issues that City are suffering at the moment were made apparent once again here, as their defense was torn through far too easily on several occasions in this game. The rest-defense looks lightweight, and once the first line of pressing is broken, the ball passes through City’s midfield and exposes their high defensive line far too easily.

Spurs are clearly a side with potential under Postecoglou, and they play football with an admirable bravery and a commitment to their coach’s philosophy. The next step is to find consistency in their results.