Just when we had all accepted this year’s title race to be a procession for Manchester City, the football gods shone brightly on us. Last night’s game between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs was billed as a straightforward Manchester City win and a routine stroll towards the Premier League title.
Given the form of Spurs as well as City, most were quite okay with a City win. But boy o boy were we wrong!
Tottenham seemed up for the game from the word get-go. The debutant Dejan Kulusevsaki scored at the 4th minute to give the Spurs a shocking lead. From then on they played like a team with determination and steel.
Conte’s plan of hitting City on the counter was apparent from the first minute, just look at the below match stat.
With just 28% possession, Spurs were able to score 3 goals as opposed to 2 from City. This is their first loss in 120 days! With this loss, Manchester City’s lead has been cut short and they find Liverpool to be on their tail. Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead in the 59th minute which was snatched back by Mahrez from a penalty. Kane however restored the lead in the dying embers of the game with a sublime header, sending Spurs as well as Liverpool fans into a frenzy.
Now just 6 points separate City and Liverpool with the latter having played a game less. They also played each other in April which means Liverpool still have a very good chance to win this seasons Premier League trophy.
Harry Kane, the best English player of the decade?
Often times we are led to believe that the likes of Sancho, Foden, Sterling and others are the best in the business as they play for bigger teams and have better PR. As I have been saying for the last couple of years, however, I still believe, Harry Kane to be the only elite footballer from England at the moment. The rest of them are just hacks whose prices have been inflated by good PR and their agent.
Harry Kane is the only player that could be named among the likes of Lewandowski, Mbappe and Neymar. He has been struggling with form this year due to unfavourable conditions at Spurs and his own desire to play for another team (likely City). Still, however, he comes up with match-winning performances every now and then proving his worth time and time again.
Conte needs financial support
Having followed Conte at Chelsea, I am an ardent believer in his abilities. Yes, he asks too much of players but is that not what they are expected to? These players are given millions of dollars to play a sport, should they not give their 100% as employees?
Conte was endowed with good players at Chelsea and they won the league. He also won the league (Seria A) despite it! Now that he is at Spurs, they should support him with some good players and he could certainly help them win a trophy or two in the coming years.
Players like Kulusevski and Royale show potential but are still away from being ‘ready’. Conte recently did an interview with Italian media citing concerns over Spurs transfer season that saw four first-team starters leave the club and only two arrive. With a win over City, Conte has shown that he and his team has the potential to beat the very best, it is only a matter of support from the owners.
Meanwhile, Conte has been banned from unauthorized interviews from now on.
