LONDON • After surviving an early Sergio Aguero VAR penalty and top scorer Harry Kane's injury to beat Manchester City 1-0, Mauricio Pochettino challenged "spirited" Tottenham to finish the job in their Champions League quarter-final.
South Korea forward Son Heung-min took his chance well in front of 17,500 fans in the so-called Tottenham Wall to earn Spurs a slender first-leg edge 11 minutes from time in their new home, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, on Tuesday.
His much-maligned captain Hugo Lloris enjoyed a moment of redemption in a troubled campaign when he saved Aguero's kick after Danny Rose was adjudged to have handled Raheem Sterling's shot.
Pochettino was delighted with the display against the Premier League champions, but insisted the tie was still delicately poised.
"We showed great quality. We were all excited and motivated to play this type of game," he said.
"The energy was good, fantastic, the penalty save gave us a big lift. There are still 90 minutes to play and it's Man City. But, with the spirit we play, anything is possible."
The win was an unexpected twist after Kane, who has 24 goals this season, injured his left ankle in a tackle on Fabian Delph just before the hour. He is expected to have tests on the injury today, but Pochettino fears his star striker could miss the rest of the season.
City's first loss since a Jan 29 setback at Newcastle may not be fatal, but they will have to improve at home in the second leg to stop Spurs from reaching their first European semi-final since 1984.
Pep Guardiola said: "Nobody said it would be easy. We have to show what we can do the next game.
"It was a good performance, but that's the Champions League. We lost, we have the second game and we will see what happens."
There was a sense of deja vu as he opted for the same duo, Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan, with disastrous consequences in the 3-0 beating at Liverpool in the first leg of the last-eight clash last season.
Guardiola lost Bernardo Silva to a muscle injury during training on Monday and had to defend his "conservative" line-up:
 • Riyad Mahrez over Leroy Sane on the right.
 • Gundogan over Kevin de Bruyne, who was returning to form and fitness in an injury-hit season.
Said Guardiola: "I decided to play with two holding midfielders to be a bit more solid.
"Last season was much worse (against Liverpool). Except for a few chances conceded in set-pieces and some counter-attacks, we controlled the game (today).
"We played to score but couldn't. Spurs are a team that press a lot, but they couldn't do that especially in the second half when we arrived many times in the final third."
9Â
Tottenham have progressed to the next round on each of the last nine occasions they have won the first leg of a European knockout match (excluding qualifiers).3Â
Penalties Hugo Lloris has faced and saved in all competitions this year against Leicester, Arsenal and now Manchester City.
Aguero's penalty miss on 13 minutes was a major momentum swing for City, the League Cup winners and FA Cup finalists who are in the hunt for four trophies.
There were no penalty appeals from City when Rose's arm was slightly raised for balance as the left-back slid in to block. But, after consulting the video assistant referee, Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers awarded the kick.
As Lloris plunged to his left for a superb save, it fuelled more debate over Uefa's tweaked handball rule. Its decree that effectively any contact between arm and ball in the box meant a penalty, with a "distance" caveat, has stirred criticism even before the law was applied to widespread derision here.
Pochettino said: "Maybe technically it was a penalty because it was handball, but we do not know the protocol. There are a lot of question marks. I think it's going to change the spirit of the game and I'm very worried about how it's going to work next season."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE TIMES, LONDON
BOURNEMOUTH, England (REUTERS) - Burnley made a big step towards securing Premier League survival after coming back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-1 away as their striker Ashley Barnes
Football: Impressive Burnley fight back to beat Bournemouth 3-1
Football: Stoke's England World Cup-winning 'keeper Gordon Banks dies at 81 LONDON (AFP) - Gordon Banks, the England football team's goalkeeper when they won the 1966 World Cup, has died aged 81, his former club Stoke announced on Tuesday (Feb 12).
Gordon Banks: England's World Cup-winning goalkeeper dies
Valencia to face Barca in Copa final after seeing off Betis Catalans, who have won the last four editions of the competition, beat Real Madrid 4-1 aggregate victory in the semis By Reuters
Valencia to face Barcelona in Copa final after seeing off Betis
We Want Messi To Always Be At Barca - Barcelona President Opens Up By Destinynewsvibe Josep Bartomeu, the president of the football Barcelona, has said he plans to offer Lionel Messi a new contract in the hope the Argentinian will stay at the club his whole career.
Barcelona president Bartomeu wants to keep Messi with club
footballsection.com/2019/04/04/barcelona-president-bartomeu-wants-to-keep-messi-with-club-forever/
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview that he wants Lionel Messi to remain linked to the club forever and that he plans to sit down with the forward soon to discuss extending his contract.
'We want Messi to always be at Barca' —Barcelona president
Man Utd fans split on blaming De Gea or Herrera for Mustafi's Arsenal goal. and Manchester United fans didn't know whether to blame David De Gea or Ander Herrera. (@The_One_Bissaka
EPL: Tottenham blame De Gea for 1-0 defeat to Manchester
CORNELLA DE LLOBREGAT, Spain (AFP) - Espanyol's Wu Lei became the first Chinese player to score in La Liga on Saturday (March 2) as his goal helped his team to a 3-1 win over Real Valladolid..
Wu Lei makes history for China in La Liga - worldfootball.net
'Caption this': Pogba deletes cryptic post after Mourinho axed Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba quickly deleted a controversial social media post of him smiling after manager Jose Mourinho was sacked by the club on Tuesday.
'Caption this': Pogba deletes cryptic post after Mourinho axed
Juventus sources have reportedly denied growing speculation manager Massimiliano Allegri will depart the club to be replaced by former boss Antonio Conte. Per Football Italia, Agnelli and Allegri
Flipboard: Serie A champions Juventus deny approaching
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri 'offended' by insult from Burnley bench their race for a top four finish but also lost teenage winger Callum Hudson-Odoi who tweeted to confirm his season was over
Palace rout Leicester to step up pressure on Puel Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Crystal Palace - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 23, 2019 Leicester Citys Jonny Evans scores their first goal REUTERS/Jon Super Feb 23 - - Crystal Palace piled further pressure
Palace rout Leicester to step up pressure on Puel - msn.com
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey is set to seal a money-spinning move to Italian champions Juventus when his contract expires with the Gunners in the summer, according to reports on Thursday.
Reports claim Arsenal's Ramsey moving to Juventus - samaa.tv
Hammers pack a punch: Klopp. Despite doubts over key West Ham players such as midfielder Samir Nasri, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is still expecting to face "a really good football team".
Hammers pack a punch: Klopp - theworldnews.net
Football: Gymkhana president infuriated by 'unfair' treatment
Watford moved up to seventh in the Premier League as goals from Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu secured a 2-0 win at West Ham. Deeney gave the visitors the lead in the 30th minute, stepping up to
West Ham 0-2 Watford: Deeney and Deulofeu silence home fans
0 comments:
Post a Comment