Tottenham Hotspur Vs Manchester City, New Milestone for The Citizens' Attacking Quartet

LONDON, THURSDAY — After two matches with poor results, a glimmer of revival finally greeted Manchester City with a valuable 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday (27/2/2025) early morning Western Indonesian Time. Spurs are no longer a bogeyman for "The Citizens." This resurgence was partly due to manager Pep Guardiola's decision to immediately deploy a combination of his four forwards.

Using the classic 4-2-3-1 formation, Guardiola immediately fielded Erling Haaland, Omar Marmoush, Savinho, and Jeremy Doku, all of whom have attacking characteristics. This was the first time these four players played together, even starting as the initial lineup. Guardiola, aiming for an early goal, indeed desperately needed a victory to end City's poor streak of two consecutive defeats.

After appearing to make a splash by smothering Newcastle United, 4-0, City's performance suddenly declined. They lost 1-3 to Real Madrid in the playoff round of 16 of the European Champions League. After that, City again suffered a bad result when they lost 0-2 to the Premier League leaders, Liverpool.

The quartet of attackers was able to meet Guardiola's expectations. City had already taken the lead just 12 minutes into the match. Haaland put City ahead first after capitalizing on a cross from Doku.

City's attacking quartet displayed great fluidity and exchanged positions effectively in the front line. During attacks, Doku and Savinho consistently posed threats from the wings. Meanwhile, Haaland and Marmoush constantly kept Spurs' defense on alert, anticipating attacks from the central area.

"He (Doku) is a threat to the opponent's backline. He is very good in the final third of the field, providing an assist in the first half. In football, when one player dribbles against another, they create space," said Guardiola after the match held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England.

By fielding Haaland, Doku, Savinho, and Marmoush, City's attack was much more dynamic compared to their losses against Real and Liverpool. In terms of ball possession, City was no longer as dominant as usual. However, City excelled in creating opportunities, especially in the first half.

The quartet of City's attackers collectively created four golden opportunities. However, three of them were wasted. The majority of City's chances were generated through player combinations on the flanks. Despite being outnumbered in the penalty box, City's players were still able to win ball duels. The alertness of Spurs' goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, also played a role in thwarting a series of City's opportunities.

In addition to being strong in attack, City's attacking quartet is also skilled in helping out in defense. When Spurs try to build an attack, Doku will drop into midfield to help Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes who play as inverted wingers. Meanwhile, Haaland, Marmoush, and Savinho will try to pressure Spurs players who are trying to build an attack from the back.

However, the pressing efforts of Haaland, Marmoush, and Savinho were rather soft so that Spurs players were still able to penetrate City's defense. Statistics show City's pass per defensive action figure of 10.4; greater than Spurs (8.3). This indicates that City players failed to prevent Spurs players from passing the ball freely. This tendency occurred especially in the second half, where Spurs were able to turn the pressure around.

The introduction of Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Djed Spence in the second half helped boost Spurs' attacking prowess. Kulusevski's movement and creativity in passing kept City's back line on their toes.

"In the first half we were too eager to try to hurt City and we paid for that. So there are some lessons for us, but look, it's disappointing to lose, disappointed to lose, but at least the performance looked more like we wanted," Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was quoted as saying on the club's website.

Haaland was very aggressive in this match despite only just recovering from injury. In addition to scoring a goal in the first half, he also managed to bring City to widen the lead at the end of the match.

However, the goal was eventually disallowed because the referee deemed the ball had hit Haaland's hand first. The decision was controversial because replays showed Haaland's hand barely touched the ball.

"I think it was a wrong decision. It was more like a penalty, but because he made the decision on the pitch, I think that's why he accepted the decision. But I never thought the goal should be disallowed," Haaland said.

Although a little disappointed that his goal was disallowed, Haaland could still smile because he was still the hero of City's victory. The victory over Spurs was very valuable to lift the morale of City players who had collapsed after two consecutive defeats.

The additional three points also strengthened City's position in fourth place with a collection of 47 points. In the next match, City will be challenged by Championship Division team, Plymouth Agyle, in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Despite being on the brink of relegation from the Championship Division, City should not underestimate Plymouth. They showed their magic after defeating Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup. However, Guardiola with his attacking quarter formula probably does not need to be overly wary of Plymouth.