Premier League opens with stunning showdown between Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester City
The 2nd half of the opening game of Barclay’s English Premier League of the 2010-11 season started and everyone was surprised with the non-appearance of Serbian Aleksandar Kolarov who happened to be among the few players that starred for Manchester City in the first half.
The 2nd half at White Hart Lane started in a similar fashion to the first; slow in the beginning but gradually increasing its tempo however the growth of intensity was not exponential this time.
There were more tries from the Tottenham Hotspurs and the absence of Kolarov was felt. Later in the match Kolarov was seen nursing his foot with ice and it became apparent that he was brought out of the game because of a risk of injury in the start of the season.
This suggests that the Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini is looking forward to make him the star of his starting line up. In the 46th minute, Welsh Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspurs fired up a shot that went near by the goal posts however Manchester City goal keeper Joe Hart was alert and in position.
In contrast to the first half Yaya Toure was seen performing much more prominently and was not all over the place and played a good game in the midfield. However the highest paid player in EPL (220,000 pounds) still disappointed in the rest of the game, being unable to shine.
There was frenzy on the 51st minute mark in the Tottenham part of the field where the Spaniard, David Silva and Argentinean, Carlos Tevez blasted shots but before the ball reached the net, both attempts were blocked by defenders. In return no one was able to take advantage of the deflected balls.
Here onwards the midfield of the Citizens woke up and a better game was shown by them. David Silva and Yaya Toure both managed to increase their passing ratio and soon they were planning plays.
Nevertheless it was noticed that Eastlands proved to be a team that was still under construction as there was lack of chemistry and the newly bought players had not exactly figured out each others’ moves and their best positions on the field.
David Silva continued to make assists but there was not a single person inside the box who could capitalize on them. One reason for that was Shaun Right Phillips who, one too many times, miscalculated the ball and the end half stood fumbling.
It was Bale again who impressed all but this time with his defensive abilities. He showed his stalking abilities and with fast legs was often in time to block the attackers. Bale has proven himself a lot since last season where he produced stunning performances. In the first half he has shown why he is considered to be among the men that will lead Tottenham Hotspurs to victory this season.
Hotspurs continued their counter attacking strategy much to effect especially on the right wing where Aaron Lennon stood for the chance of scoring. On another attempt he was pawned by City’s Pablo Zabaleta and for that he was given a yellow card by the referee.
On another instance, in the 62nd minute there was a brilliant cross from Lennon and forward Peter Crouch managed to head it again but it went past the goal posts.
After this the substitutions were brought in the 67th minute with the new English prodigy Adam Johnson replacing Right Phillips, Roman Pavlyuchenko replacing Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch was called off for Robbie Keane.
With Johnson’s arrival Tottenham was reignited and at last the star was able to break the impregnable defence of Manchester City on the left flank. He found Tevez and passed the ball but Tevez flew it over.
Near the 70th minute mark a lot of flurry was happening in the Manchester City’s half as Pavlyuchenko attempted twice however Joe Hart stopped both strikes brilliantly.
In the 76th minute Lennon attacked again but it was saved by Hart again. This happened to be Lennon’s last shot of the game before he was replaced by Giovani. After the 77th minute Giovani instantly heated things up when he chased the ball to the keeper twice on passes.
Towards the end of the game a much better defence was shown by Citizens. Adebayor was brought in the 83rd minute to replace Carlos Tevez. In the 84th minute Bale missed an extremely easy opportunity to score and claim victory, it also got him the massive votes for man of the match.
There were at least 3 forwards present in the Manchester City box but none were able to net the ball.
Another blunder happened for Tottenham in the 86th minute when a spectacular pass from Bale was missed by Pavlyuchenko. Though Pavlyuchenko made a difference in the offence with his aggressive nature, he was disappointing in finishing his projects.
All this time Robbie Keane was barely seen. Crouch was accomplishing a much better job than that. He was at least trying to help at all positions and make plays along with attempts and assists. Keane on the other hand was only reacting to what he got on his feet. Had it not been for Joe Hart, Manchester City would have been at least 3 down to Tottenham.
Joe Hart can easily be declared and voted as the man of the match for saving at least 5 certain goals. The end result of the match was a goalless draw, though Tottenham did make an impression showing that they were going to improve from their 4th position last season, just as their manager Harry Redknapp had predicted.
Tags: