Solanke dents Manchester City’s title hopes with stirring comeback for Spurs

At the end of a truly wild occasion, this the definition of the game of two halves, it was difficult to state the case for Manchester City’s Premier League title-winning aspirations.

The manner of their second-half capitulation saw to that. If they were impressive before the interval, they were so brittle thereafter, blown off course after Tottenham stirred. Pep Guardiola was beside himself with frustration on the touchline.

The City manager has now seen his team drop seven points since the turn of the year with goals they have conceded in the second-half of matches. After a fourth draw in six league games, a run that has included the defeat against Manchester United, City are six points behind the leaders, Arsenal.

And yet this told only a part of the story because it was Spurs’ day. Above all, it was one for Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke. Maybe even the under-fire Thomas Frank, too. Simons was the driving force behind the Spurs comeback, Solanke the goalscoring hero.

Spurs had been booed off at half-time. Of course. And yet their injury-ravaged team refused to bow to what had felt like the inevitable. In the process, they would give Arsenal’s title challenge a boost. Is this allowed?

Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo had scored for City. It was always likely that the latter would do so, having been pursued by Spurs in January before opting for City. Spurs’ revival was stunning. And, after Solanke had scored for 2-1 – a controversial goal, with City wanting a foul by him on Marc Guéhi – the scene was set for one of the goals of the season.

It was Conor Gallagher who won the ball before crossing. Which was when Solanke diverted the ball up and over Gianluigi Donnarumma with the outside of his trailing boot. Call it a scorpion kick. Or just something brilliant.

City’s perfect start was overtaken. Ditto their dominance of the first half. It had been plain as early as the second minute that Radu Dragusin, on his first Spurs start for 371 days, was rung-rusty. He was yards off Erling Haaland when the City striker turned to release Semenyo, whose shot was saved by Guglielmo Vicario at the second attempt.

The alarm rang for Spurs when Bernardo Silva robbed Yves Bissouma and City worked the ball quickly via Haaland for Cherki, who was to the right of goal with only Dragusin in front of him.

Cherki dropped his shoulder, going further right and Dragusin, who had played only seven minutes previously this season, responded in slow motion. The space was there and Cherki wrapped a low finish into the far corner, the ball nicking off Dragusin on the way in. Frank hurled an environmentally-friendly water carton to the ground in disgust.

Frank had persisted with his 3-4-2-1 system despite Kevin Danso and Djed Spence having been added to the list of unavailable defenders. The manager was without 11 injured players in total. He had the defensive midfielder, João Palhinha, and Dragusin either side of Cristian Romero at the back. Archie Gray, another midfielder, filled in at right wing-back. The odds were heavily against Spurs.

There were times during the first half when it felt ominous for Spurs. The home fans were the usual mixture of emotions; they were angsty whenever Vicario tried to start moves with short passes. There were ironic cheers on 35 minutes when he played a decent one. City encountered minimal resistance on their way to their second goal – Spurs could not get near the ball – and, after that, the countdown was on to the half-time boos. How loud would they be? Very.

Dragusin hacked a loose clearance straight at Rodri, who moved the ball forward to Silva and, when he went to ground to scoop it left for Semenyo, the Spurs defence had been shredded. Semenyo was never going to miss.

City might have had more in the first half. Haaland lobbed wastefully over after Rodri had sent a high ball in behind Romero. Cherki was denied by a Vicario wonder save after ghosting around Romero and watching Dragusin fly past him in an all-or-nothing block which turned out to be very much the latter.

Frank changed things for the second half after Romero had failed to emerge for it. On came Pape Sarr at right midfield in a 4-4-2, Frank matching up Guardiola’s formation, going man for man. The transformation was extraordinary. Simons had been an isolated bright spot in the first period; a snap-shot in defiance. His influence would grow. Solanke was relentless in front of the England manager, Thomas Tuchel.

Destiny Udogie drew a fine save out of Donnarumma and then the home team caught a break. Solanke held up a pass from Simons before holding off Abdukodir Khusanov and making the room to shoot. Guéhi, chasing back, got his foot in between Solanke and the ball. At which point, Solanke kicked through the City defender, sending it off his boot – in part – and past Donnarumma. It looked like a foul and yet the goal stood. It was the latest refereeing decision to perplex Guardiola, who would be booked shortly afterwards for something he said.

City’s collapse was stunning. Spurs pushed, throwing caution to the wind. It was a golden period for Frank and what a goal it was from Solanke for the equaliser. The home crowd actually enjoyed themselves, roaring their team on and another goal for them would not have been a surprise. Simons teed up the substitute, Wilson Odobert, who hammered goalwards. Donnarumma saved with his legs. Simons extended the City goalkeeper with a deflected effort.

Back came City. Tijjani Reijnders, on as a substitute, twice went close. In between times, Haaland scooped high. At the other end, Simons almost got a low cross to work. It was breathless stuff. Spurs could revel in the point.