Debut delight for Bergwijn as Tottenham beat Man City in further Liverpool title boost

Steven Bergwijn marked his Tottenham Hotspur debut with a goal as his new club delivered another blow to Manchester City’s faltering campaign.

Bergwijn came straight into the starting lineup after sealing a move from PSV in January, and grabbed the headlines by firing Tottenham in front in the second half, setting them on course for a win against the champions.

It was Spurs‘ first shot of the game, but there had still been plenty of drama before then. Towards the end of the first half, VAR awarded City a penalty for a foul by Serge Aurier on Sergio Aguero.

Hugo Lloris pushed away Ilkay Gundogan’s effort from the spot, before appearing to bring down Raheem Sterling when the City attacker tried to pounce on the rebound.

It prompted a coming together between the two sets of players, but VAR deemed there to be no foul – while Sterling, already on a booking, was not penalised for diving.

With tensions running high as the two sides went into the break, the action swung in Spurs’ favour in the second half when Oleksandr Zinchenko was sent off for a second bookable offence for City.

The full-back could have no complaints after bringing down Harry Winks on the counter attack, and his dismissal prompted Pep Guardiola into a reshuffle, as Aguero was sacrificed to bring defender Joao Cancelo on.

 

With the attacking momentum now on Spurs’ side, they were able to open the scoring with their first attempt of the match, just after the hour mark.

The ball fell kindly for Bergwijn just inside the box, with the Dutchman striking it cleanly on the half-volley to send it past Ederson.

After scoring with their first shot on target, Spurs doubled the lead with their second, as Son Heung-Min latched onto substitute Tanguy Ndombele’s ball forward to fire past Ederson – with a slight bit of help from a Fernandinho deflection.

Guardiola had to change things again, bringing Gabriel Jesus on to give his side more presence in attack, but they struggled to work any more chances to get back into the game.

Lloris did well to tip over a dipping Kevin De Bruyne cross as the game approached stoppage time, before the French keeper smothered a header from Jesus.

Birthday boy Harry Winks, 24 today, had to breath a sigh of relief in stoppage time when Lloris prevented his header going into his own net, allowing him to celebrate in peace – along with the rest of his team, and likely countless numbers of Liverpool fans.

The defeat for second placed City means that Liverpool end the week a massive 22 points clear of their title rivals, with just 13 games remaining before the end of the season. It is looking ever more likely that Jurgen Klopp’s side will be crowned champions before then.

Liverpool now need just 18 points to seal their first ever Premier League title.

As for City, it is the first time they have failed to score in successive games under Pep Guardiola.

You can see how all the action unfolded via our Live Centre here.