Shaky City escape to victory once again

Man City 2 Tottenham 1

Twenty-four hours after United’s remarkable late win at Vila Park, the “noisy neighbours” proved Fergie and company do not own the copyright on these late, remarkable comebacks. Trailing to a first-half header from Spurs defender Steven Caulker, City levelled midway through the second half but were in danger of dropping two points against a Spurs side which has already won at Old Trafford this season.

But, with two minutes remaining, David Silva threaded through a perfectly-timed ball for Dzeko’s perfectly-timed run and the City forward converted with a magnificent shot on the turn from seven yards.

It was Dzeko’s 11th Premier League goal as a substitute and, with Mario Balotelli unable even to make the bench for the fixture, an indication of the ridiculous strength in depth Roberto Mancini has at his disposal.

“Edin is not happy,” said Mancini of his ‘super sub’. “A player who is happy on the bench does not exist. We had three important strikers today, last year we won the championship because of goals from our strikers. Today, we missed some goals from them but hopefully they will continue to score. It was a huge win because we had a lot of important players injured. Today I saw the same spirit from the players that I last year.

“The Premier League season is long and difficult — there are a lot of teams who can fight for the title. We made some mistakes in the Champions League but in football you can never say never.”

There had been little sign of the drama or recovery to come as Spurs took a deserved first-half lead and looked capable of becoming the first team to win a league game at the Etihad Stadium for 691 days, a run dating back to an Everton victory in December 2010.

Spurs snatched the lead on 21 minutes through Caulker, although it owed as much to poor defending and a rare slip from England goalkeeper Joe Hart as impressive finishing. Aguero was judged to have fouled Aaron Lennon and Tom Huddlestone’s free-kick from the right flank was met by Caulker, the ball hitting Hart firmly in the chest and then squirming agonisingly over the line. It was a piece of defending in keeping with City’s recent form, particularly in Europe, although Mancini had the right to go in at the half-time interval feeling aggrieved at referee Michael Oliver who turned down two extremely strong penalty appeals, for a William Gallas handball and Huddlestone body checking Pablo Zabaleta.

Either side of Caulker’s goal, Spurs might have scored, first when the Blues failed to deal with Jan Vertonghen’s long throw-in; then when Huddlestone shot just wide from 20 yards.

Adebayor, once the darling of the Etihad, was public enemy number one on his return, helping Zabaleta collect a booking with a theatrical response to contact and then being cautioned for a late lunge at the defender.

City pressed on for a first-half equaliser. Gareth Barry, Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Zabaleta all had shots before the interval while, after it, Aguero simply fell over after beating the Tottenham offside trap.

Mancini threw on Maicon as he committed more bodies to the attack, a tactic which paid dividends with Aguero’s equaliser following on 65 minutes.

It was a polished example of finishing as the Argentinian latched onto a scrappy loose ball that had been supplied by Yaya Toure and committed two defenders before rolling the ball into the Spurs goal from six yards.

“We wanted to avoid 1-1,” admitted the Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas. “After 1-1, you have to be very careful. When Mancini went three at the back, we had to adapt in a certain way.

“We still had a couple of opportunities but around the 60th minute was a key moment, we conceded and it was difficult after that.”

Tevez rolled a shot just wide as City sought the winner, his last act before making way for another forward, Dzeko, after 72 minutes although it was the visitors who carved out the next decent opening — Bale producing a vicious left-foot shot which was well blocked by the diving Hart. But by now City were in the ascendancy, with Dzeko heading just over from a Silva corner and Aleksandar Kolarov seeing a shot deflected into the side netting after tidy play by Aguero. Silva shot just wide and Aguero was denied by an excellent double save from Friedel after being set up by Dzeko, part of a strong end to a rollercoaster afternoon for the champions.

MAN CITY: Hart 6; Zabaleta 5, Kompany 6, Nastasic 5 (Maicon 56, 6), Clichy 7; Barry 7 (Javi 90), Y Toure 8; Silva 7, Aguero 7, Kolarov 6; Tevez 7 (Dzeko 72, 7).

TOTTENHAM: Friedel 6; Walker 7 (Dawson 77), Gallas 6, Caulker 7, Vertonghen 6; Lennon 6 (Naughton 87), Dempsey 6, Sandro 6, Huddlestone 8, Bale 7; Adebayor 6 (Defoe 80).

Referee: M Oliver 6.