Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur: live

Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur: live

Follow Thom Gibbs' minute-by-minute commentary of the Premier League game between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Eastlands on Tuesday May 10, 2011, kick-off 19.45 BST.

LIVE

REPORT

MANCHESTER CITY

1 - 0

FT

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Tuesday, May 10 19:45

Premier League

City of Manchester Stadium

Crouch (OG) (30)

(HT 1-0)

ATT: 47,029

 

Image 1 of 2

Wrong end: Peter Crouch (left) scores the first Premier League own-goal of his career to give Man City the lead Photo: GETTY IMAGES

 

Image 1 of 2

Tussle: Tottenham Hotspur's Vedran Corluka (right) and Raniere Sandro (left) battle for the ball Photo: PA

By Thom Gibbs 7:00PM BST 10 May 2011

COMMENTARY

KEY MOMENTS

60000

2011-05-10 21:57:43.0

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/7944227/Manchester-City-v-Tottenham-Hotspur-live.html?service=artBody

This page will automatically update every 60 secondsOn Off

Email Thom Gibbs with speculation, predictions and other things ending in -ion.
-----------------------------------

21:45: Mission very much accomplished for City. Would anyone care to predict the next year in which City will fail to qualify for the Champions League? Let's hope with this increase in status they can shake off some of the horribly negative football which has got them there. That second half was appalling. Spurs looked tired, without a cutting edge and outclassed. A final word from Tony Wood: "Champ-IONs league for City." Very good. Over and out from me, thanks for your company.

FULL TIME: MANCHESTER CITY TAKE THE FINAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACE!

90+4 min: Pienaar's cross is headed away by Lescott, but only as far as Sandro. He passes to Pienaar, who finds Van der Vaart, who is tackled. That is surely that.

90+1 min: Modric's wicked low cross is attacked dangerously by Vieira. He comes at it at an angle where it seems most likely he'll Crouch himselft and gift Spurs the equaliser. Instead its guided expertly away from the danger area.

90 min: Spurs corner. Van der Vaart's header is well cleared. We're going to have five minutes of added time.

89 min: Dzeko fights ferociously for the ball before drawing a foul from Kaboul. City have a free kick 40 yards from goal. We are approaching party time at the former Commenwealth Games stadium.

87 min: Fantastic header off the line from Gallas, who has collapsed in a heap after deflecting Vieira's shot over. Kaboul is ready to come on for the injured centre back.

84 min: Tevez is back. On the pitch, this time, not warming up. Silva is off.

81 min: The ball comes to Van der Vaart on the edge of the box, his volley is pathetically wide.

80 min: Warm-up shenanigans are taking place on the sidelines. Carlos Tevez returns to the bench and takes off his vest, looking poised to come on. Then Mancini sends him back out again, forcing him to put his bib back on. It's like he's mocking his fellow sub Mario Balotelli. Meanwhile Spurs have a free kick out wide after Rose is challenged by Milner. Milner is booked, the free kick bounces out to Rose, whose volley is defected behind for a corner.

78 min: Defoe is on for the really-quite-angry-looking Peter Crouch.

77 min: Silva nods the ball on cleverly to put Dzeko through. His unconfident shot is defected away for a throw by Dawson.

75 min: Spurs have faded since Vieira came on, it's City now dominating possession. Milner gets behind Rose and tries to pick out Toure in the middle, but Dawson is on hand to intercept the weak pass.

72 min: Silva's low cross is cut out easily by the recovered Gallas.

70 min: Big Willy Gallas is in a heap on the floor again, having landed uncomfortably after winning a header.

69 min: Silva miskicks from Vieira's through ball into the boc. That was City's first attack of the half, defending fans.

67 min: Vieira's on for Johnson for City.

65 min: City have genuinely barely left their half since they kicked off. Mancini looks to be urging them to get up the pitch, but it wouldn't be hugely surprising if this was a double bluff and his side's massively defensive setup is all part of his devious plan.

63 min: Spurs free kick 10 yards from the box. Van der Vaart puts it straight into the wall.

60 min: Spurs still knocking on the door, but in the half-hearted manner of a nervous child trick or treating for the first time. Paul Szabo is obviously not very interested in this state of affairs, and writes: "Off topic, but as to Triesman’s latest FIFA bribery allegations, nothing surprising there. Many years ago my mother taught me her two rules for voting. (1) “Vote No” (do you really want to go along with what the politicians are proposing?) and (2) “They’re All Crooks”. Yeah, she was right." Voting "no" must be an awful waste come general election time, Paul.

58 min: Kolarov is on for bloody Zabaleta. That's not an insult, just an adjective.

57 min: Pienaar appears to be tripped in the box by Kompany, Mike Dean waves it away. Replays show the contact was minimal, and Pienaar got straight to his feet.

55 min: It's all Spurs at the moment, but they're being expertly held at bay by City outside the box. Zabaleta is still bleeding, poor dear.

53 min: Zabaleta has a bloody nose following a patented Crouch arm-in-face during an aerial challenge for the ball. He's having it tended to on the sidelines.

49 min: Tottenham faff about for ages on the right, exchanging fancy passes but resolutely ignoring Peter Crouch's frantic pointing towards the space in front of him in the box. In the end Corluka disappointingly plays a ball straight to a City defender, who clears.

47 min: Absolutely stunning save from Hart! Lennon stands the ball up for Pienaar beyond the far post, who powers a downward header towards goal. Hart instantly shifts his weight onto his left foot after moving right to track the cross and gets a firm palm onto to the ball to scoop it away from danger. Marvellous work.

46 min: We are back! And in some style, as City execute their famously beautiful kick-off routine, which is immortalised in the City megastore with a series of memorabilia including tea towels, egg cups and gardending equipment.

HALF TIME
That's your lot from this half. It's a decent game that could do with a little more openess. Let's hope Harry Redknapp goes for the jugular and leaves gigantic spaces at the back. And Roberto Mancini has a personality transplant and does the same thing. See you in 15.

45+3 min: Van der Vaart volleys at goal after a sustained period of Tottenham pressure and unassertive City defending. It's straight down Hart's throat. Not literally, obviously. That would be horrendous.

45+1 min: Four added minutes will be played, mainly because of the injury to Wilson Palacios. Thanks a lot, Wilson Palacios. But, you know, get well soon.

43 min: Lennon gets past Zabaleta again but Lescott stretches to take the cross away from Pienaar. I think Lescott's been quite impressive since coming in for (dieting) drug cheat Kolo Toure. Is that fair comment, or have I not watched City closely enough?

42 min: Gallas is now off and receiving treatment, but looks like he's quite up for carrying on. What a noble man.

39 min: Danny Rose has looked shaky at best at left back. Jonathan Liew picks up the harsh but fair thread on Twitter: "I'm increasingly beginning to think that Danny Rose's goal against Arsenal was meant as a cross."

37 min: Silva's shot from just outside the "D" is just over. City are flying at the moment, the goal came at a cruel time for an improving Spurs.

36 min: A man whose name I'm guessing is Paul has this to say about Peter Crouch: "Crouch is useful for comedy. And comedy adds great entertainment to the game. He plays so that people can see him clumsily give the ball away with those long spider legs." Harsh, but being borne out this evening. Tony Wood contributes this: "Crouch didn’t have his ion where the net was." That's called a callback, folks.

34 min: Pienaar's on for Palacios.

33 min: Palacios is off receiving treatment, Spurs temporarily down to 10. One assumes it's temporary, unless Harry Redknapp really wants to avoid Europa League qualification.

32 min: "City have this unique celebration," says Martin Tyler as City's fans do the Poznan, the celebration inspired by fans of Lech Poznan. So not that unique, then.

30 min: GOAL! Manchester City 1 Tottenham 0 (Crouch OG)
City's short corner produces a devilish low cross by Johnson. Crouch, defending the near post from about five yards out, sticks out his leg and steers the ball into his own net.

28 min: Wow, Modric so very close. Lennon steams past City's midfield before picking out an entirely unmarked Modric who's just arriving into the box. His first time shot looks perfect and beats Hart, so it's difficult to process why the net isn't flapping moments later. It's gone just wide, somehow.

27 min: Peter Crouch has just done a backheel and an extremely adventurous volley from 30 yards out! Neither were very good. Goal kick to City.

25 min: Lennon's decent cross from a well-executed short corner routine is nodded away by Richards. Tottenham are in the process of finding their stride.

23 min: GH Mitchell has a question for you to mull over: "Is Crouch useful for anything other than standing up top waiting for a long ball? And why does 'Arry think he has a chance of getting by Richards and Kompany?"

22 min: City's defence head it away comfortably.

21 min: First real attack for Spurs, and they produce two decent shots from it. Lennon's shot from Crouch's knock down is well blocked by Kompany. Modric's shot is deflected behind for a corner.

20 min: Palacios gives the ball away with criminal casualness just outside the box, Silva is on to it, but tackled. Spurs are able to clear for a throw in, but they're looking extremely listless so far.

18 min: Extremely large shout for a City penalty. Rose gives the ball away and Milner rattles into the box at speed. He looks to be nudged over by Dawson, but Mike Dean (a man who has "a penchant for awarding penalties" according to Martin Tyler) isn't interested.

14 min: City are knocking it about beautifully, looking every inch the Champions League team here.

11 min: Incredible save from Cudicini! Silva gets behind the back line from a Dzeko flick-on after Lescott's high ball. Silva brings the ball down with typical aplomb before setting up Dzeko who blasts at goal. Cudicini makes himeslf big and keeps it out. Alan Smith criticises Dzeko's finishing, but that was more 'good save' than 'poor shot' for me.

9 min: Toure screws a poorly-executed shot wide as Dawson controls lazilly on the edge of the box. Spurs look jaded.

7 min: Due to a box-ticking error on my part, the comments section under these words was left open. This is not how a liveblog should operate, so these comments are now closed. Thanks for your contributions, if you'd like to carry on talking about sport why not email me here? The best, as ever, will be published right here.

6 min: The corner comes to nothing.

5 min: Richards is picked out with an excellent pass from Johnson, and gets into a great position by the byline. Spurs clear for a coner somewhat desperately.

4 min: Sedate start to the game. City have had a couple of potentially killer balls cut out by Spurs' defence. Tottenham look set for a night spent mainly inside their own half.

3 min: Henry Winter comes over all Opta on Twitter with this statistical nugget: "Stat corner....a third goal between #mcfc and #thfc tonight will be the 1,000th of the Premier League season."

1 min: Tottenham do what's known in some circles as a "kick off".

19:44: The teams are out, we are about three adverts away from kick off.

19:42: Michael points out that my line-ups below only featured 10 players starting for City. "that's confidence for you...." he muses. The line-ups have been amended, Yaya Toure was the missing man. I can only apologise for my over-enthusiastic use of the backspace button.

19:37: Harry Redknapp outlines exactly what I did in the update below. "We need to win our games Geoff," he tells Sky's Geoff Shreeves. He's not especially convincing, I get the feeling he's writing this season off and has one eye on a luxurious beach holiday, ideally at mates' rates given his son's endorsment of a popular high street travel agents.

19:30: It's win or bust for both sides tonight. Spurs need a win if they're to have any hope of re-qualifying for the Champions League. City can clinch it with three points. But there's the minor distraction of an FA Cup final this weekend for the home side, which does make it something of a tough one to call. I shall travel the well-trodden fate-tempting route and go for a tiresome 0-0. You? Send me an electronic mail message.

19:20: If you search Twitter for replies to Henry Winter you will notice a large group of people not buying Tottenham's "injured in training" line regarding hapless goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. Spurs are sticking to their story, but tell that to the Twittersphere. Those guys love a conspiracy.

19:18: Here are the teams in full:

Man City: Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta; De Jong, Milner; Yaya Toure, A Johnson, Silva; Dzeko.
Subs: Given, Kolarov, Boyata, Wright-Phillips, Vieira, Tevez, Balotelli

Spurs: Cudicini; Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Rose; Lennon, Palacios, Sandro, Modric; Van der Vaart; Crouch.
Subs: Pletikosa, Bassong, Kaboul, Kranjcar, Pienaar, Defoe, Pavlyuchenko

19:12: Some piecemeal early team news: Carlos Tevez makes his return for City, but only with a place on the bench. Gomes is missing for Spurs, so Harry Redknapp calls on able deputy Carlo Cudicini.

19:00: It's perhaps the saddest indictment of the modern English top-flight that the phrase "the race for fourth" has entered the public lexicon.

Fourth! Imagine! Being worse than three other teams! Gaining entry to the Champions League's glittering play-off stage! I can barely type I'm so excited.

Nevertheless, I shall attempt to keep you up to date with events at the City of Manchester stadium tonight as an out-of-form and injury-ravaged Tottenham side that looks to have given up on this season attempts to delay the inevitable ascension of financially comfortable Manchester City to Europe's elite tier.

Stay tuned, and try to control yourself.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com