Tottenham roars back to draw with Man City
Tottenham did fierce rival Arsenal a huge favour in the Premier League title race. Dominik Solanke scored a second-half double — including one from an outrageous scorpion kick — as Spurs came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw with second-place Manchester City on Sunday, leaving Arsenal with a six-point lead with 14 games left.
It was almost the perfect day for the leaders, with Aston Villa — the other title contender — losing 1-0 at home to 10-man Brentford. Villa stayed seven points adrift of Arsenal and was in danger of being reeled in by fourth-place Manchester United, which scored a stoppage-time winner through Benjamin Sesko to beat Fulham 3-2 for a third straight league win under new manager Michael Carrick.
Having already overseen victories over City and Arsenal in his short tenure, Carrick appears to have the magic touch at revitalised United. The same cannot be said of Pep Guardiola at the moment. Missed opportunity for City: This was a huge wasted opportunity for Guardiola’s City, which was up against a heavily depleted Tottenham team and was cruising 2-0 ahead at halftime thanks to goals by Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo. At times, it was almost too easy for City in front of an apathetic home crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
City then collapsed as a revitalised Tottenham fought back. Solanke bundled in Spurs’ first goal — appearing to kick the back of Marc Guehi’s leg, resulting in the ball dribbling over the line — and then grabbed the equaliser with a deft, flying back-flick that looped over City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the corner. “The first half was difficult — we couldn’t get near them at times,” Solanke said.
“The second half was a different story. In the second half, we were great and grew with confidence and belief.” In the last five games, City has looked vulnerable in losing twice - to United and tiny Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League — and now spluttering against an injury-hit Tottenham. “It is a setback but we are still there,” Guardiola said.
“There are 14 games to go and a lot of points. We will see.” Arsenal, a 4-0 winner at Leeds on Saturday, might not have a better chance to end its league title drought stretching back to 2004. Villa loses to 10 men: Villa played for more than half the match with an extra man after Brentford winger Kevin Schade’s straight red card for kicking out at Matty Cash in the 42nd minute after they had challenged for the ball.
