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An inspired substitution by coach Mauricio Pochettino yesterday gave Tottenham Hotspur a surprise 2-2 draw at Premier League champions Manchester City as Lucas Moura headed home the equaliser with his first touch of the ball.
There was drama right at the end of the match as City substitute Gabriel Jesus thought he had given his side an injury-time win, but once again VAR was used to disallow the goal as the officials ruled that Nicolas Otamendi has touched the ball with his arm before it came to Jesus.
Raheem Sterling, with his fourth goal in two matches had given the home side an early lead, before Erik Lamela equalised with Spurs’ first shot at goal. Sergio Agüero scored City’s shortly before the break.
City coach Pep Guardiola, whose team won their first game 5-0 at West Ham, rang in the changes for the match, bringing in Agüero, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Otamendi for John Stones, David Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Jesus.
He explained that he had introduced the new players as he wanted as many players involved as possible. “I want to see the players. We need everybody. If the players don’t play every game it could be two or three weeks without a game. I need to see them.”
City started like a house on fire, having a penalty appeal turned down as early as the 11th minute, when Lamela had his arm around Rodri’s neck as a corner was played into the City area. The referee waved on play though.
Not surprisingly, City took the lead in the 20th minute when Sterling, who had scored a hat-trick against West Ham, nodded home a cross from Kevin De Bruyne, giving goalkeeper Hugo Lloris no chance.
The home side’s lead lasted just three minutes though as Spurs scored with their first shot at goal. New signing Tanguy Ndombele won the ball near the middle of the pitch and found Lamela with a precise pass.
The Frenchman ran towards the City goal before unleashing a powerful shot that beat Ederson in the bottom left corner.
Ten minutes from the break Agüero restored the Citizens’ lead as De Bruyne again provided the assist allowing the Argentine to flick in from close range.
City again started stronger in the second half, but it was Pochettino’s change five minutes after the restart that swung the game away from City for the second time. The coach brought on Moura for Harry Winks as his side were preparing for a corner and it was the substitute who scored with a header with his first touch of the ball.
Guardiola introduced Jesus for Agüero midway through the second half in an attempt to find some more fire power upfront and Agüero was obviously incensed by his substitution as he traded harsh words with his coach on the sidelines.
Both sides continued pushing forward in search of the winner, but failed to find the breakthrough they needed to grab the three points.
There was some drama at the death though as Jesus thought he had given City the victory, only to see VAR used to scrap the goal.
Spurs captain Lloris admitted that he thought it had been a goal.
“It’s a bit unlucky for City. Anyone can have a different interpretation. But then I looked at the screen and realised it was a hand ball. But we are very happy with the point. It shows our personality and character. We need to enjoy the moment.”
Moura was grateful for the use of VAR.
“It was crazy. I thought it was finished. But this type of action is hard to see. Only the VAR can see. So thank you for it! But we played very well, and it was a good result for us, because we know how difficult it is to play here.”
City will look back at the result with some disappointment as they dominated possession and had 10 shots on goal, scoring just twice, while Spurs scored with both their shots at goal.
The draw sees City slip down to third, two points behind Arsenal and Liverpool who both have six points from their two opening matches and could be joined at the top by Manchester United on Monday as the Reds travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
Today’s matches see Chelsea at home to Leicester City, while Sheffield United entertain Crystal Palace.
