City fans were right to vent anger, admits frustrated Pearce

STUART PEARCE insisted Manchester City supporters had every right to turn against his side during their dismal first-half performance in this defeat to Tottenham.

One furious fan sought to scale the barrier behind the City dugout and confront Pearce after the visitors second goal before he was led away down the touchline by police.

Calum Davenport and Tom Huddlestone swept the visitors into an early lead over abject City who restored some pride by mounting a second-half comeback through Joey Barton.

Pearce said: “People pay good money to come here and I was frustrated as well.

“The performance of the team dictated people’s reaction and rightly so today. The team were very, very poor for 45 minutes, but for the next 45 minutes I didn’t hear anyone venting their frustration.”

Tottenham’s first Premiership away win of the season also ended City’s proud home unbeaten record at their City of Manchester Stadium.

And Pearce made no excuses for his side’s poor start, admitting: “In general right over the pitch we afforded them far too much respect. In the second half we rolled our sleeves up when maybe it would have been easier to go under. And at the end of 90 minutes maybe we deserved to get something out of it.”

Pearce was further frustrated by referee Rob Styles’ decision not to award City a penalty with five minutes remaining after Barton appeared to be brought down by Steed Malbranque in the box.

Pearce said: “He (Malbranque) has got none of the ball and trod on his foot. The referee said he thought it was a penalty but the linesman didn’t flag so he didn’t give it.”

Tottenham boss Martin Jol insisted 19-year-old Huddlestone has got what it takes to succeed at the highest level after his match-winning performance bumped his side up to seventh place.

Huddlestone set up Davenport’s 16th minute opener before crashing home his first ever Premiership goal with a fine half-volley from the edge of the box.

Jol said: “Tom does not show lack of ambition because he wants to be the best all the time and that is a good characteristic. He is developing and growing.”

The only sour note for Jol was in his side’s inability to put the game out of sight by the break.

Jol added: “The problem is if you make it 3-0 you think it will be all over but 2-0 is never enough and I think they showed that by scoring with more than half an hour still to go.

“We have played a lot more matches recently and they have not, so I knew in the first half we would have to score three goals. In the end it was enough but we made it difficult for ourselves.”

Opta Fact: In this game Spurs trebled the number of goals Manchester City have conceded at home this season.

Opta Fact: This was Spurs’ first Premiership away win in 11 attempts.

MAN CITY: Weaver, Richards (Ireland 30), Dunne, Distin, Jordan, Trabelsi, Barton, Reyna (Dabo 69), Vassell, Dickov, Samaras (Onuoha 46).

TOTTENHAM: Robinson, Chimbonda, Davenport, King, Lee, Ghaly, Huddlestone, Malbranque, Tainio, Berbatov, Defoe (Mido 83).

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).