A rare goalkeeper assist summed up the dominance of Man City as Pep Guardiola’s men swept aside Tottenham at the Etihad with ease.
Man City dominated the ball in the early going, but it was Tottenham that came closest to breaking the deadlock.
Harry Kane won a free-kick in a dangerous position and rattled the inside of the post with his whipped effort.
That close call did not put City off their stride, and soon after Ilkay Gundogan won a penalty after drawing a clumsy challenge from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Rodri’s name was drawn from the lottery of who would take a Man City penalty next. Hugo Lloris got a hand to his low drive but couldn’t keep the effort out as the hosts took a deserved 1-0 lead.
Spurs were threatening to counter on the rare occasions they recovered the ball, but the final pass to punish City on the breal was lacking.
Gundogan saw a close-range shot blocked as City began to turn the screw. Half-time appeared to come at the right time for Tottenham who were relieved to go in just one behind.
Moussa Sissoko replaced Lucas Moura at the break, but there was little he could do moments later when Gundogan doubled City’s advantage.
A mazy run from Raheem Sterling teased Tottenham’s defence. The ball was eventually fed to the red-hot Gundogan who prodded the ball through Lloris who would’ve expected to do better.
Sterling
Gundogan
Man City are in control now
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Spurs offered a token resistance, but the hosts could not be contained and soon scored a third that owed a lot to an unlikely source.
A long ball from Ederson perfectly picked out Gundogan in stride. After turning Davinson Sanchez inside out, the German slotted past Lloris to make it 3-0.
Substitute Gareth Bale then showed glimpses of his former best with a jinking run and shot that produced a smart stop from Ederson
Sterling saw a late shot stopped by the feet of Lloris as the scoreline threatened to get ugly. It mattered not though as the remaining time was played out with little to report as City took another step closer to regaining the Premier League crown.
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