Words by Ciaran Coyle
Three goals in 18 mad minutes at the start of the second half saw Manchester City comeback from 2-0 down to win 4-2 and move within 5 points of Arsenal at the Premier League summit.
The City players were met with a chorus of boos at half time following their lacklustre display which saw the visitors put clear water between themselves and Pep Guardiola’s men.
The home side managed to respond in the best way possible as Riyad Mahrez lifted a ball across the Spurs 18-yard box which was only half dealt with by Hugo Lloris as the ball found its way to Julián Álvarez who placed it into the roof of the net.
City got their 2nd goal in two minutes to get back on level terms as Erling Haaland headed home from close range to claim his 22nd goal of the season and break his three game drought.
The crazy comeback was complete in the 63rd minute as Mahrez took the ball down on the right hand side of the penalty area and slammed the ball through the Tottenham goalkeeper to bag his fourth goal of the campaign and light up the Etihad Stadium.
Mahrez rounded off a spectacular second half display by the champions as Tottenham defender, Clement Lenglet misjudged a long ball forward by Ederson and allowed the Algerian winger to run through and chip the onrushing Lloris to claim his second of the game and his seventh against Spurs in the league.
Spurs took the lead on 44 minutes as Rodri was closed down on the edge of his own penalty area after receiving the ball from his goalkeeper and was heavily pressed into giving the ball to Dejan Kulusevski, who took a touch and placed it past Ederson into the bottom right hand corner.
The visitors doubled their lead three minutes later as City failed to deal with a Spurs counter attack which saw Harry Kane make his way into the box and drill a shot towards goal which was parried only as far as Emerson Royal who nodded home from close range.
Following this result Antonio Conte’s men find themselves 5 points off Newcastle United in 4th place having won only 1 of their last 5 Premier League games.
If you want more Premier League match reports on CSN, click here!