Man City Player Ratings vs. Tottenham: Puskas Award Contender Dents Title Tilt

Manchester City lost ground in the Premier League title race on Sunday afternoon, as Tottenham Hotspur fought back from nowhere to earn a 2–2 draw.

Thomas Frank’s side were responsible for perhaps the poorest 45 minutes that any team has produced in the top flight this season, and City looked set to match, or even better, Arsenal’s 4–0 win at Leeds United on Saturday.

However, their 2–0 half-time lead was vanquished by Dominic Solanke. A messy opener was followed up by a stunning second, one that should garner Puskás buzz. His equaliser set up a tantalising conclusion, with Spurs remarkably looking the more likely to snatch all three points after an abject opening period.

City were able to wrestle back some control during the game’s final act, but no gilt-edge chances were spurned and the spoils were shared. Arsenal are now six clear at the summit.

Winners and Losers

Pep Guardiola’s side inexplicably surrendered points. | Ben STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

Winners

Well, Arsenal are the big winners of this result. There was no victory for Tottenham to celebrate, and City dropped points in the title race. It was the perfect afternoon for Mikel Arteta and for those watching down Seven Sisters Road. After last week’s slip-up at home to Manchester United, this weekend was exactly what the league leaders needed to allay fears of a potential collapse.

However, there were certainly some positives for City to take away, including the contributions of their two new signings, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi, and the continued brilliance of Rayan Cherki, who’s been one of the Premier League’s standout performers over the past couple of months. Guardiola’s switch to a narrow system in possession, with emphasis upon central combinations, is getting the best out of the Frenchman.

Loser

Erling Haaland broke his open-play duck in the week against Galatasaray, but the Golden Boot frontrunner still hasn’t scored a non-penalty goal in the Premier League since Dec. 20. Despite City’s first half dominance, Haaland didn’t see much of Tottenham’s goal. Moreover, Guardiola’s shift to a 4-2-2-2/4-3-1-2 with the aforementioned central combinations has somewhat exposed the striker’s limitations as a facilitator.

While City’s midfield ran rings around the Lilywhites in the first half, Haaland often wasn’t on the same page with his teammates.

Man City Player Ratings vs. Tottenham (4-3-1-2)

Rayan Cherki opened the scoring for the visitors. | Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma—6.6: The Italian must’ve thought he was in for his quietest outing of the season at half-time, but Donnarumma had to be brilliant in the second half.

RB: Matheus Nunes—6.4: Nunes didn’t contribute all that much when City had possession, and Spurs had joy combining down the left-hand side at times when Destiny Udogie flung himself forward.

CB: Abdukodir Khusanov—7.2: The young defender was outwitted by Solanke, leading to the striker’s first goal, but Khusanov otherwise produced some impressive recovery sequences.

CB: Marc Guéhi—7.0: Guardiola certainly thought his centre back was fouled by Solanke for Spurs’s first goal, with Guéhi’s erroneous deflection one of very few blemishes in an assured display.

LB: Rayan Aït-Nouri—6.5: Elevates the technical level of an already incredible technical Man City team. Some of his footwork down the left flank was divine.

CM: Rodri—8.1: Booked in the first half, but Rodri, especially for the first hour, was as impressive as he’s been since returning from injury.

CM: Bernardo Silva (c)—8.0: City’s captain was at his canny best at times, teeing up Semenyo’s goal expertly.

CM: Nico O’Reilly—7.4: Relished his midfield role against an outnumbered pivot, with his positioning an issue for right centre back João Palhinha in the opening period. Reverted to left back when Guardiola made a double change midway through the second half.

AM: Rayan Cherki—7.9: Despite seemingly being hampered by a knock, Cherki had plenty of fun in north London, given the space afforded to him in the first half. The Frenchman opened the scoring with a pinpoint, albeit deflected strike across Guglielmo Vicario.

ST: Antoine Semenyo—7.4: A menacing threat in the left-hand channel throughout, and coolly slotted home from a good position to double City’s lead.

ST: Erling Haaland—8.0: Didn’t have too many sights of goal, thus prolonging his open-play goal drought in the Premier League. Killed a couple of City attacks in the first-half with poor decision-making or sloppy execution of the final action.

SUB: Tijjani Reijnders (69’ for Cherki)—6.0: Came close to restoring City’s lead with an opportunistic header. Otherwise quiet.

SUB: Nico González (69’ for Aït-Nouri)—6.7: Immediately out-duelled by Conor Gallagher, leading to Solanke’s remarkable finish.

SUB: Phil Foden (88’ for Bernardo)—N/A

SUB: Omar Marmoush (90’ for Rodri)—N/A

Subs not used: James Trafford (GK), Max Alleyne, Nathan Aké, Rico Lewis, Ryan McAidoo.

What the Ratings Tell Us

Marc Guéhi — Guéhi has slotted in seamlessly. | Izzy Poles/AMA/Getty Images

Man City found a way to surrender two points in N17, and Marc Guéhi directly contributed to Spurs’s turnaround. However, the England international was otherwise excellent, and a superb bit of defending ensured Wilson Odobert didn’t convert from Xavi Simons’s driven cross to potentially win it for the hosts. Guardiola has called on his newbies to adjust to the loss of club “legends” in recent times, and Guéhi, even at this early juncture, has the makings of a City stalwart. You wonder what their best pairing will be once all the centre backs are fit.
Rodri still hasn’t rediscovered his Ballon d’Or-winning form, and perhaps he never will, but Man City merely needed stability from their holding midfielder. For much of the contest, the Spaniard looked to be back to his best. Some of his passes through the lines were sumptuous. However, as the game became stretched, Rodri suffered. A serene performance suddenly became ragged, and Guardiola’s attempt at shoring things up by adding Nico González to the mix backfired. Still, there were positive signs for Rodri ahead of the run-in.

The Numbers That Explain City’s Second-Half Demise

Dominic Solanke — City were stunned in the second half. | Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside/Getty Images

Even when Man City were in total command before half-time, they weren’t able to lay siege to Vicario’s goal. They had 61% possession and 15 shots, of which only three were on target. An expected goals haul of 2.01 suggests they were as proficient in front of goal as they should’ve been.
City notched no shots on target in the second half, while Spurs registered five—their most in either half of any Premier League match since the opening weekend of the season.
Antoine Semenyo’s strike before half-time made him just the second Manchester City player to score in four of their first five appearances for the club in the Premier League era, joining Emmanuel Adebayor.

Statistic	Tottenham	Man City
Possession	39%	61%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.97	2.01
Total Shots	12	15
Shots on Target	6	3
Big Chances	2	3
Passing Accuracy	81%	91%
Fouls Committed	15	12
Corners	3	4