Manchester City inch closer to Premier League glory after slim victory over Champions League tormentors Tottenham
With just a few games remaining before the end of the season, Manchester City jumped back to first place after a narrow win over Tottenham Hotspurs.
While many would argue that it was not a convincing victory for Pep Guardiola's men as it was not a goal-fest for the Cityzens but the master tactician has laid out his plans well to squander any attempts from the ones who eliminated them from progressing to the semi-finals of the Champions League last Thursday.
This makes their 25th win at home in all competitions and their 10th straight victory in the league.
An early goal from Phil Foden on the fifth minute proved to be the marginal goal for City. Sergio Aguero fed a cross inside the box which was met by Foden who headed it in past Paulo Gazzaniga who stepped in for Hugo Lloris.
Interestingly, it was Foden's first ever Premier League goal and what a goal it was to mark your arrival in one of the world's top-flight football league.
It was not easy night though for Man City as they received immense pressure from Spurs especially through Thursday night's standout player, Heung-Min Son.
Early into the match, Son made the Cityzens' heart leap into their mouth on the third minute when he took a crack against Ederson but the Brazilian showed off his skills and cleared the first attempt of the match for a corner.
After the opening goal by Foden, Son continued to exploit the open spaces of the opposition as he received a lovely pass from Christian Eriksen but Aymeric Laporte was there to cover him.
City, on the other hand continued their technical advantage by retaining most of the ball playing it around the park. On the 33rd minute, Bernardo Silva came close to doubling the lead for the home side after he tried from mid-range but his efforts just screeched wide off the right post. Silva gave it another try on the 35th minute but Gazzaniga was there to block the shot.
Son came in close to scoring again on the dying minutes of the first half after a lovely solo effort but was thwarted at the edge of the penalty box by Ederson.
The resumption of the second half saw some glimmer of chances for City to double the advantage when Aguero tried from inside the box on the 49th only to find his efforts blocked by Spurs.
Foden also came close as an attempt from close range whiskered off the right post. On the 63rd minute, Leroy Sane got his introductions to replace Aguero and immediately got into the action. Three minutes after the substitution, Sane took a shot from the edge of the box but his efforts went inches wide of the left post.
He also provided a lovely pass to Raheem Sterling on the 71st minute but Sterling's effort was punched away by Gazzaniga.
It was a quiet second half for Spurs as City continued to pass the ball around and make the opposition chase. 10 minutes after Sterling's near-goal effort, Spurs found a chance as Lucas found an opening only to find his shot to be blocked. He got the rebound but his second effort goes wide.
In the end, it was Manchester City who prevailed and went back to the top of the table with a slim lead over Liverpool by just a point. They felt all the pressure tonight as they could've lost the title race.
Their next game will be against Manchester United which will be another tough battle for the defending champions.