Tottenham’s faint hopes of a top-four finish were all but ended as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City as the Premier League’s top scorer Sergio Aguero was once again the match-winner for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
SEE ALSO:
Manchester United face Manchester City competition to sign £50m striker
Arsenal manager issues ‘hands-off’ warning to Manchester City over key midfielder
Barcelona lining up shock bid for Tottenham star Harry Kane
The Argentine striker scored the only goal of the game just before the half hour mark to bring an end to five consecutive defeats on the road in all competitions for City and move three points clear of Arsenal.
Eric Dier had the first attempt of the game when he glanced a free header wide of the post from a corner, then moments later Harry Kane drilled a shot wide of the far post as the hosts started the match in the ascendancy.
One moment of controversy occurred mid-way through the first half when Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris misjudged the flight of the ball with Aguero lurking and gifted the forward with a clear run on goal but the City man went down under a collision with Federico Fazio, but his claims for a penalty were immediately dismissed by the officials.
Nevertheless Aguero broke the deadlock in the 28th minute, albeit, against the run of play as he finished off a swift counter-attacking move that had begun with a Spurs corner to score his 10th goal against the North London outfit and take him up to 22 in the league for the campaign.
The visitors began to take control of the game following the breakthrough and midfielder Fernandinho had two chances before the break to double the lead but on both occasions he was denied by two last ditch blocks from Spurs defenders.
On the hour mark Kane almost capitalised on a mistake from Martin Demichelis on the edge of the City box and despite the Spurs top scorer being one-on-one with Joe Hart he couldn’t find a way past his England international team-mate and eventually lost the opportunity.
Then at the other end Aguero went close to scoring his second of the game following an delightful passing move but he lost his balance at the crucial time and shot wide.
Spurs pressed for a late equaliser and went close through substitute Paulinho and Erik Lamela but they were both denied by excellent saves from Hart, who was simply unbeatable in the City goal.
The result means the home side remain sixth and seven points off Manchester United in fourth so qualifying for Champions League football looks to be a very difficult task for Mauricio Pochettino’s outfit.