Erling Haaland scored twice as City overtook Arsenal, putting them on the verge of clinching a fourth straight league title on Sunday
Michael Dominski
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Ed Mackey·Live Reporter
Result: Tottenham 0-2 Man City
- Erling Haaland tapped in from close range to make it 1-0 (51')
- Son Heung-min missed a huge late chance to equalise (86')
- Haaland added a second from the penalty spot after Jeremy Doku was fouled (90+1')
- Man City head into Sunday's finale two points clear at the top of the table
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Title race scenarios
As we look ahead to Sunday's final matches, here's a reminder of how the table looks.
- Man City: 88 points, +60 goal difference
- Arsenal: 86 points, +61 goal difference
Sunday's matches:
- Man City vs West Ham
- Arsenal vs Everton
Title scenarios
If Man City beat West Ham: City win the Premier League title
If Man City draw or lose against West Ham:
- Arsenal would win the title with a win against Everton
- City would win the title if Arsenal fail to beat Everton
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Pep explains Ederson substitution
Pep Guardiola has explained why he took Ederson off after the goalkeeper's collision with Cristian Romero: "Ederson got a kick in the eye and it’s swollen. He could not see properly. The doctor came to me and said, 'You have to replace him.' When the doctor says that, I don’t have an alternative."
The manager also touched on Ederson's angry reaction to the decision: "I understand. He wants to play."
De Bruyne passes Fabregas
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Thanks to his assist on Erling Haaland's opening goal, Kevin De Bruyne moved past Cesc Fabregas to take sole possession of the second-most assists in Premier League history with 112, trailing only Ryan Giggs' 162.
De Bruyne has now assisted Haaland 12 times in the PL since the beginning of last season, at least four more times than any other player has for a team-mate in that time.
City break their Spurs hoodoo
It was imperative that Manchester City break their run of bad results at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today in order to win the Premier League title, and that's exactly what they did.
Erling Haaland’s opening goal was the club's very first in the PL at the venue, coming on what was their 79th shot there.
City are like clockwork
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Manchester City, meanwhile, will enter the final day of the Premier League season in first place for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, with the sole exception being Liverpool's runaway title in 2019-20.
Each of those previous six times, City went on to win the title.
Spurs' regression
Tottenham will be finishing outside of the top four in the Premier League for the fourth time in the last five seasons, after finishing in the Champions League spots in each of Mauricio Pochettino’s last four full seasons in charge from 2015-16 to 2018-19.
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Postecoglou: 'The foundations of the club are fairly fragile'
Postecoglou has made some very interesting, if slightly cryptic, comments in his post-game press conference. One would be wise to assume that he is referring to the attitude around the club over the last couple of days.
"The last 48 hours have revealed to me that the foundations are fairly fragile," said the Tottenham manager. "The last 48 hours have revealed a lot to me and that's alright. It just means I've got to go back to the drawing board with some things."
He was then pressed on whether he had noticed these things internally or externally.
"Outside, inside, everywhere," Postecoglou responded. "It's been an interesting exercise. It's just my observations. You can make your own fairly accurate assessment of what's happened.
"I understand, I've probably misread the situation as to what I think is important in the endeavour to become a winning team but that's okay. That's why I'm here."
Postecoglou: The game was decided in the big moments
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A very unhappy Ange Postecoglou looked towards the game's big moments when he faced the cameras.
"It was a tight game. In the big moments, we weren't able to capitalise and they were," he told Sky Sports.
"I thought we were well in the game the whole time. Even at 1-0, we had a great chance to go 1-1. At the end there we were chasing the game, so they got a bit more space."
The title race turned in 45 minutes
With the score 0-0 at half-time, Opta's supercomputer gave Man City a 55 per cent probability of winning the Premier League title, leaving Arsenal with the other 45 per cent.
Two Erling Haaland goals later, and the picture now looks like this:
- Man City – 84 per cent
- Arsenal – 16 per cent
Guardiola on title pressure: 'They were playing for the consequences of the result'
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Guardiola acknowledged the pressure that his players were playing under in north London, a similar pressure to what Arsenal faced away to Manchester United on Sunday.
"They were playing for the consequences of the result," said the Man City boss. "When you play football thinking about consequences — that you are going to lose the Premier League — you are going to perform at this level.
"But they are human beings and I can understand that the pressure is there. Even Arsenal didn't play exceptionally against (Manchester) United. They knew that if they didn't win there, they weren't going to win the Premier League and they played with that pressure.
"It will be the same against West Ham (on Sunday), look at (City's final game against) Aston Villa two years ago. The emotions are there."
Guardiola: Our goalkeepers did the job and we punished them
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Pep Guardiola looked back on important moments at both ends of the pitch in his post-match analysis.
"In these types of games, the emotions are there and you cannot perform your best," he told Sky Sports. "The quality, the intensity of the opponent who were trying to qualify for the Champions League, they are exceptional team that is well managed.
"We knew it was difficult but, in the bad moments, we were there. Our goalkeepers did the job and, at the right moment, we punished them."
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Maddison looks ahead to next season
Speaking to Sky Sports, James Maddison also looked to the future: "We are at the start of our journey with the gaffer. It is hard to talk directly after losing but in the summer reflecting after all is said and done, we will be a better, stronger outfit for what we have been through this year. The high of starting so well, then the dip and then up and down. I am sure we will be better for it next season."
Maddison: 'We were in the game for large parts'
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James Maddison also spoke to Sky Sports after the match, touching on the potential that Spurs had to take something from this game: "Any result at home where you don't win is disappointing. I am not naive enough to think we were not playing one of the best teams in the world because we were. Always disappointing to lose at home in front of our own fans.
"We were in the game for large parts, took the game to City and played some really good football, but ultimately it results in zero points."
"They took their chances in their moments and we didn't, and we did have some. Fine margins at the top level."
Another dominant City run-in
Manchester City are now unbeaten in their last 22 Premier League games, winning 18 and drawing four. It's their second longest unbeaten run in the PL, behind only a 30-game streak between April 2017 and January 2018.
They have also now won four straight road league matches in a row without conceding, doing so for the first time since 1903!
Walker on title race pressure and failed Arsenal fireworks
The City and England right-back was asked if he enjoyed the pressure of competing in so many high-profile games.
"If I didn't enjoy the pressure, I'd be in the wrong job and definitely in the wrong team," he said. "These are the games that you want to play in. The feeling that I had on the pitch when we scored (to make it) 2-0, you don't experience that often.
"Last night, I couldn't sleep, I heard that they tried to set fireworks off the night before but we weren't there — they missed us! These are the things you want to be competing for."
Walker: One step closer but not job done
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The City players may have been here before but they are certainly not letting themselves get carried away.
"With the emotions and with everything that was riding on it, it was always going to be a difficult game," Kyle Walker told Sky Sports. "The lads did the job we needed to do. It's one step closer but it's still not job done.
"At least we bring it down to the last game in front of our fans, which is important."
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Spurs better than expected but City got it done
This was broadly the outcome most would have predicted, but it was actually miles better a game than many expected. Tense, competitive, dramatic and inches away from a huge twist at the end.
I didn't really expect too much from Spurs but they were good despite playing in a new system. They worked really hard, made it difficult for City and on another day they could have got something. If they'd played like that for the last few months they'd be in a better position in the league.
City didn't quite look themselves, perhaps the weird atmosphere got to them, and they couldn't take the game away from Spurs until the very end and relied on that huge save from Ortega. But that feels a bit like their season overall: they've always got enough quality and experience to do enough.
Ortega comes up big
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Stefan Ortega saved all three shots on target he faced today after replacing Ederson in the second half, none bigger than the one he made on Son's late breakaway.
The backup goalkeeper has now saved 11 of the 13 shots on target he's faced when coming on as a substitute in the Premier League this season (85 per cent), including each of the last 11 in a row.
Arsenal's title hopes hinged on one HUGE chance
There are few players in world football you want racing clean through on goal more than Son Heung-min.
After Brennan Johnson picked the pocket of Akanji in the 86th minute, Arsenal fans thought they were going to get the goal craved. And Pep Guardiola hit the floor of his technical area.
But Son's right foot went cold and Stefan Ortega came up trumps.
A sublime save from City's second-choice keeper, but one that the South Korean should really have scored.
Small margins...
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