City need a goalscorer, and the answer to his problems was sitting high in the stands of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with his future still in London rather than with the champions.
City desperately pushed for an equaliser against the Spurs
Pep Guardiola paced his technical area frantically as his Manchester City side desperately pushed for an equaliser against Tottenham. But you don’t have to be the most innovative coach in world football to see what was wrong with his side. City need a goalscorer, and the answer to his problems was sitting high in the stands of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with his future still in London rather than with the champions. And, while Tottenham showed they could survive without Harry Kane, City could only underline why they really want him and why they need him. Last season, Guardiola’s side claimed the title without a recognised striker; it might not be so easy this season. Their most likely rivals – Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – all put big scores on the board 24 hours earlier, on the season’s opening weekend, but City only showed they were fallible.
According to Guardiola, City scored lots of goals
Admittedly they had a much tougher start than the other contenders, but they drew a big, fat blank and the reasons why were clear for all to see – the lack of a goalscorer. If City were hoping to haggle over the price for Kane before the transfer window shuts at the start of September, their performance in the Premier League opener only strengthened the north London club’s hand. City could have been 3-0 up inside the opening 10 minutes, but they missed that final touch to make the difference. Fernandinho made a clever run from a free-kick but headed wide with Hugo Lloris flapping, while Joao Cancelo and Riyad Mahrez dragged shots off target. Jack Grealish on the left-wing and Mahrez on the right teased the Tottenham full-backs all afternoon, but every cross sent into the box was comfortably dealt with by Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier.
Spanish winger Ferran Torres was playing in the number nine role but, while he has a happy knack of finding space against Tottenham, there was none to be had. “It is the same people as last season, and we scored lots of goals,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference. “It has happened. What is important is we are there, the last cross. We arrived many times there and today. We could not score, but it is the same mystery. We are the same, we are good enough to create chances and score goals, and we are going to do it.” There was no secret to Tottenham’s game plan – it was similar to the one that Jose Mourinho used to beat City in the same fixture last season and the one that fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo has used with Wolves too.