QUESTIONABLE OFFICIATING DID NOT MASK CITY'S CLASS
Tottenham fans may feel some discontent over two major decisions that had an impact on last night's Premier League clash with Manchester City but very few can argue that they would have stood a chance had the officiating swung in their favour.
City exploded into action early on, dominating Spurs with waves of fluid attacking movement. Sergio Aguero terrorised the Tottenham back four with his direct running and unsurprisingly gave City the lead with a tidy finish, fed in by David Silva after 15 minutes. City continued to stretch what looked like an uncomfortable Spurs back four and it was something of a miracle that the first half ended only 0-1 to the visitors. Tottenham felt aggrieved that Michael Dawson's close range finish off a fine Christian Eriksen free kick had been ruled out for offside but the likelihood is that Emmanuel Adebayor's presence was enough to be seen as interference. The only down side to the half for City was Aguero being carted off just before the break. His hamstring problems often seem to arise just as he demonstrates that explosive ability which draws comparisons to likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
Tottenham can point towards the second half penalty that saw Danny Rose sent off harshly as the moment in the game where even a fighting chance had been lost. Rose's last ditch challenge on Edin Dzeko did win the ball but the towering Bosnian sold the tackle sufficiently and made the case very convincing for the referee and his assistants. On the assumption that Rose did not win the ball, they had no option but to show him red. An appeal may see his suspension removed. Under-performing on the night, Yaya Toure still slotted away the spot-kick and Dzeko made it 0-3 only moments later thanks to some sloppy defending. Etienne Capoue managed to pull one back before Aguero's replacement, Stevan Jovetic, got in on the act with a deflected strike whilst Vincent Kompany completed the rout with a couple of minutes remaining.
A reality call for Tottenham who had managed to string together some good results under their new manager Tim Sherwood. City can only take supreme confidence out of the performance despite Aguero's injury. Their quadruple quest continues although they might fret over their diminutive Argentine's condition in the lead-up to their clash against the might of another diminutive Argentine, Lionel Messi and his Barcelona, in the Champions League.
D. Ray Morton, 30 Jan 2014
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