Foden takes City back to the top with hard-fought win over Spurs

Phil Foden scored his first Premier League goal as Manchester City claimed a crucial 1-0 win over Tottenham to regain top spot in the table.The 18-year-old became Citys third-youngest Premier League goalscorer as he headed home after just five minutes of a tense clash with Spurs, three days after their Champions League classic.The victory took City back above Liverpool, but the downside was another injury to playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who limped off with what looked like another knee problem before half-time. View this post on Instagram 10 match win streak in the Premier League #mancity #mcitotA post shared by Manchester City (@mancity) on Apr 20, 2019 at 6:26am PDTThe game lacked the goals of the midweek clash, but there was still plenty of incident, with both sides having numerous chances and penalty appeals turned down.In the end City were grateful to an impressive performance from goalkeeper Ederson, who made two particularly good saves to deny Son Heung-min.City and their fans were clearly fired up after their Champions League exit and, as they did in Wednesdays epic, took an early lead.Foden, unexpectedly brought into the side in place of David Silva, made an immediate impact. The outstanding Bernardo Silva floated a cross into the box and Sergio Aguero nodded across goal for Foden to meet with a powerful diving header at the back post.Sergio Aguero is embraced by manager Pep Guardiola (Martin Rickett/PA)It was an ideal start for City, but Spurs, who made five changes with injured goalkeeper Hugo Lloris among those to drop out, showed plenty of energy themselves.Son capitalised on an error by John Stones to force a save from Ederson and and Christian Eriksen also tested the goalkeeper when he might have made more of the attention of Aymeric Laporte.Laporte then did much better when Son broke through again, producing a perfectly-timed tackle to deny the Korean a shooting chance.Silva continued to cause Spurs problems and Jan Vertonhgen was perhaps lucky to get away with a clumsy challenge on the Portuguese in the area before Foden shot at Spurs back-up keeper Paulo Gazzaniga.Kevin De Bruyne leaves the field injured (Martin Rickett/PA)Silva also shot at the keeper before De Bruyne appeared to jar his knee attempting an effort on goal. The Belgian slumped to the turf and was immediately replaced by Fernandinho as City manager Pep Guardiola took no chances, but the signs did not look good for the 27-year-old.Spurs could have been level before the break as Son raced clear again, but Ederson smothered his shot.City had two more penalty appeals early in the second half. First the ball hit Vertonhgens hand after he had blocked an Aguero strike and Foden went down in a challenge from Juan Foyth. Referee Michael Oliver gave nothing, as he did when Spurs claimed Kyle Walker had handled in the area.Spurs pressed further with Eriksen having a shot blocked and Lucas Moura firing into the crowd.FULL-TIME | Yessssss! 3 points and a clean sheet! @PhilFoden's first ever Premier League goal secures us the win! 1-0 #MCITOT #mancity pic.twitter.com/2OIqJtx5gX Manchester City (@ManCity) April 20, 2019Raheem Sterling had a quiet game but he moved up front after Aguero was substituted and was denied in front of goal by a reaction save from Gazzaniga at point-blank range.Spurs frustrations continued as Lucas Moura blazed over.The game ended in scrappy fashion with a number of bad challenges and Sterling getting involved in some pushing and shoving with Spurs players.It suggested both sides had probably seen enough of each other after three meetings in just over a week, but City held on three vital points.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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