Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City was billed as the highlight Premier League fixture of Matchday 34 and the mammoth tie in the English capital certainly didn’t disappoint.
Manchester United and Spurs fans were crestfallen at the end as City ran out deserved 3-1 winers courtesy of goals from Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling.
Christian Eriksen’s strike towards the end of the first-half raised hopes of a comeback but it was not to be as City had enough in the tank to come within three points of the league title.
Here are The Statesman’s player ratings from an enthralling Saturday night fixture at Wembley Stadium:
Tottenham Hotspur
Hugo Lloris
Not what you expect from your keeper and least of all, your captain.
Didn’t come out for the opener and came out too rashly in the build-up for the second.
That’s two glaring errors in a high-profile game and it’s not a mystery Spurs were unable to win from then on.
Rating: 4/10
Ben Davies
Had a decent game, but what was he thinking when he went in on Vincent Kompany like that?
Should get a retrospective ban for sure.
Rating: 3/10
Jan Vertonghen
Made some outstanding stops, despite clearly being stretched by the pace of City’s forwards.
Rating: 7/10
Davinson Sanchez
The young Colombian is developing into a fine defender but the way he was beaten for pace by Gabriel Jesus for the opener was alarming.
Rating: 6/10
Kieran Trippier
Got to attack a few times and while his deliveries saw an marked improvement but they weren’t up to scratch.
Struggled to keep Sterling quiet.
Rating: 6/10
Mousa Dembele
Had a slow start, but was back to his imperious best after the first half-hour.
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Hooked for Lucas as Pochettino went for broke in the second-half.
Rating: 7/10
Eric Dier
A typically industrious display from the versatile Englishman.
Made a number of key stops as well but his final ball was lacking at times.
Rating: 6/10
Erik Lamela
Why Pochettino went for him over Son or even Lucas, we’ll never know.
Let his teammates down badly with poor decision-making in the final third.
Rating: 3/10
Christian Eriksen
Tried his best to keep the midfield ticking, but was unable to find Kane, as is his wont, too many times.
Still he did deserve his goal, even if it was a bit fortuitous.
Rating: 7/10
Dele Alli
Not his best game in a Spurs shirt, was guilty of over-complicating things near the City box.
Rating: 6/10
Harry Kane
Hardly got a touch in the game, in fact Lucas Moura got more of the ball in just 15 minutes of game time, yet managed to play his part in Eriksen’s goal.
Rating: 6/10
Substitutes
Heung-Min Son
His form has seen an ever so-slight dip of late and it was more apparent on the night as he was unable to stretch City’s defence.
Rating: 6/10
Lucas Moura
Spurs’ brightest player in the closing stages, could easily have grabbed an assist or even a goal on another day.
Rating: 7/10
Moussa Sissoko
Came on for Alli with six minutes left on the clock, didn’t get too much of the ball to warrant a rating.
Rating: N/A
Manchester City
Ederson
Excellent game, unlucky to have conceded.
Collected crosses with authority, cutout early balls with ease and made a couple of smart stops to prevent the hosts from scoring more than one.
Rating: 7/10
Fabian Delph
Back in the side after a while on the sidelines, did fairly well before and after Pep’s tactical tweak.
Rating: 6/10
Vincent Kompany
Some outstanding stops and had a solid game overall, even though he had a nervy moment towards the end when he gifted Spurs the ball near the box.
Rating: 7/10
Aymeric Laporte
As mentioned before, looks far more comfortable at centre-back.
However, he gave away far too many free-kicks on the night to warrant a better rating.
Rating: 6/10
Kyle Walker
Pretty good outing against his former employers.
Showed his mental fortitude as he remained unaffected by the constant booing from the home suppport.
Rating: 7/10
David Silva
Not the diminutive maestro’s finest performacne, but not his worst either.
More of a middling display.
Rating: 6/10
Ilkay Gundogan
Excellent penalty and while he did an admirable job of filling in for the suspended Fernandinho, didn’t look at ease when Spurs broke.
Rating: 7/10
Kevin De Bruyne
Back to his best after a series of uncharacteristically underwhelming performances.
That touch to set up Sterling in the second-half was something else.
Rating: 8/10
Leroy Sane
Put in a decent shift on the flank but struggled to make an impact and was subbed shortly after the hour-mark for Otamendi.
Rating: 6/10
Gabriel Jesus
Showed excellent composure and awareness to slot the first but did dally unnecessarily when Sterling squared it to him in the build up to the penalty.
Could have scored another in the second-half when sent through by Gundogan, but skewed his left-footed effort well wide.
Rating: 7/10
Raheem Sterling
A curious game, as he missed a plethora of chances but redeemed himself when he scored the third.
Did well to draw the foul from Lloris and win the penalty too.
Rating: 7/10
Substitutes
Nicolas Otamendi
The tough-tackling Argentine came on mid-way into the second-half as Pep tweaked his system and did a decent job alongside Kompany in defence.
Rating: 6/10
Bernardo Silva
Replaced Jesus late in the second-half and while he did look bright, couldn’t quite find the back of the net.
Rating: 6/10
Yaya Toure
Came on in the closing stages as Guardiola sought to see the game out.
Rating: N/A