WATCH: Son's Goal Gives Tottenham UCL Edge Over Man City; Kane Hurt in Win
After the first of three matchups across two competitions between Tottenham and Manchester City in an 11-day span, it's advantage to Spurs.
Son Heung-min's goal gave Tottenham a 1-0 win over Man City in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, with Spurs treating their fans to a win in the first European match at their new stadium. It wasn't only a night of celebration, though, as Harry Kane suffered an injury to the same left ankle that caused him to miss time earlier this season.
Both sides fired early warning shots, with Tottenham launching the opening kick forward into the Man City box and forcing Ederson to race off his line to make the grab, while Man City looked to probe Spurs' back line less than two minutes in, with David Silva just a hair offside before sending a close-range chance wide left of the post.
Tottenham looked quite comfortable in the early going, picking its spots to press and others to counter, and it was by virtue of the latter that Spurs nearly wound up with a sensational opener. Moussa Sissoko broke free down the left and crossed for Dele Alli, whose flying volley from the edge of the box sailed over the bar.
Had an influential say 10 minutes into the match. It all stemmed from a chance taken by Raheem Sterling, whose shot was blocked by a sliding Danny Rose. No players appeared to be appealing for any handball, but the VAR called on referee Bjorn Kuipers to take a look, and replay showed that Sterling's shot did hit Rose's arm as he slide to block it. Kuipers pointed to the spot, giving Sergio Aguero a chance to score an early away goal from 12 yards out, but Hugo Lloris made a sensational diving save to keep Man City off the board.
The momentum went with Tottenham after that, and the hosts nearly went ahead in the 24th minute, if not for a lovely save by Ederson. Dele Alli had drawn a foul, but the advantage was played, and Kane wound up with the ball and space to shoot from inside the box. Man City's keeper went full extension to his left, though, keeping Kane's shot out and the score at 0-0.
Tottenham appeared the more dangerous of the two sides as a scoreless, physical first half unfolded from there, but Man City's back line held up under pressure from a number of set pieces.
Man City came out with renewed energy to start the second half, with Sterling forcing Lloris into a save a minute after the restart. Aguero picked out Sterling with a ball across the box, but the latter's chance didn't trouble the goalkeeper too much.
On the other end, Son nearly opened the scoring in incredible fashion, attempting to curl a ball from some 25 yards, only to narrowly miss the far post.
Tottenham suffered a huge setback in the 56th minute, when Kane was forced off with a left ankle injury. Fabian Delph inadvertently stepped on it while following through on a pass as Kane attempted to make a challenge. The ankle bent underneath the challenge, and the England captain couldn't hobble off the field under his own power, requiring help as he immediately went down the tunnel, replaced by Lucas Moura.
Man City pounced on the momentum and looked the more likely of the two sides to score, but Tottenham withstood the pressure before finding a breakthrough of its own. Son did wonderfully to keep the ball in play by inches–after his own wayward touch when taking down Christian Eriksen's pass nearly caused the ball to go out–before firing in with his left to beat Ederson from close range in the 78th minute.
Despite bringing Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus in off the bench, Man City couldn't find the equalizer, leaving the club with work to do in the second leg–without the benefit of any away goals.
Here were the lineups for both sides:
The second leg will take place at the Etihad on Wednesday, April 17.
