Feelings of Déjà vu as teams settle for draw

A Déjà vu.

That is what you call the match between Manchester City and Tottenham. It was just a reminiscence of the time when City were knocked out by Spurs from the quarter-finals of the Champions League as a last-minute Sterling goal was disallowed by VAR. Only this time, it was Gabriel Jesus. 

It was 2-2 when City got a corner two minutes deep into stoppage time. As the corner floated into the box, Jesus put the ball into the net. And the whole Etihad erupted, Pep Guardiola hugged Sergio Aguero, with whom he had an argument earlier and Gabriel Jesus was dancing. But soon, their ecstasy turned into ashes in their mouth as replays indicated that the ball touched Aymeric Laporte’s hand on it’s way to Jesus. As per new rules, if the ball touches the hand in the box, it is a penalty inconsiderate of intention. And so, the goal was disallowed and once again, VAR saved Tottenham. 

NO GOAL! Image: Reuters

Before that, City were all over the North Londoners. They dominated possession, they created chance after chance but they couldn’t convert enough and Spurs took advantage of that. Kevin De Bruyne was at his very best and the visitors were struggling to keep up with him. It was his pinpoint cross which lead to the opening goal as Rahim Sterling converted. But Eric Lamela equalized for the visitors only three minutes later before another KDB assist put the Citizens in front as Aguero scored. The first half ended at 2-1, but there was yet more to come. 

Lucas Moura has been Mauricio Pochettino’s trump card and he once again proved his worth as he headed in to put Spurs level from a Lamela corner only 19 seconds after he came on. City fans watched with horror as their star striker Sergio Aguero and manager Pep Guardiola had a heated argument after the Argentine was taken off. But the drama reached its apex in stoppage time as Jesus’ goal was disallowed by VAR. Kevin De Bruyne at his brilliant best was adjudged Man of the match for his couple of assists.

The result is frustrating for City because they had hoped for a perfect start and losing points at home might turn out to be crucial in the latter stages of the season. And their sheer dominance makes the result even more unacceptable as they had 30 shots where Spurs only had three. But it ended in a stalemate and Spurs should be happy with that because salvaging a point away at Manchester City is not an easy feat to achieve. 

This keeps Liverpool on top of the table whereas City on third and Spurs on fifth, but Manchester United will have a chance to sit top with a victory against Wolves on Monday.