Nathan Aké’s late winner ends Manchester City’s blank run at Spurs

Towards the end of last season, Pep Guardiola was asked what might be left for him to achieve in the game if his Manchester City team completed the Treble. “Score a goal against Spurs away,” he replied. He was joking, right?

City duly beat Internazionale in the Champions League final to touch immortality but here, at last, was the crowning glory. City not only scored their first goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the sixth time of asking, they also got their first result.

Previously, it had been five defeats out of five; a bizarre and hard-to-explain sequence. But now they energised their FA Cup defence with Nathan Aké getting the longed-for goal towards the very end.

The Spurs goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario was at fault. He punched weakly at a corner from Kevin De Bruyne, who had entered as a substitute, and there was Aké to turn home. Vicario argued that he had been impeded by Rúben Dias but the officials did not offer him an escape route.

City had advertised the goal ­during the closing stages, with Bernardo Silva and another substitute, Jérémy Doku, drawing saves out of Vicario. In between times, De Bruyne banged a glorious chance wide after Phil Foden had robbed Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. City, though, were not to be denied with Spurs, outplayed for long spells, departing with a whimper.

The glamour tie of the round had unfolded against the backdrop of the Jürgen Klopp bombshell, one that was plainly well received in ­Manchester and put the issue of burnout in the game front and ­centre. There was a different spin on that here, both teams returning after two-week breaks; refreshed, ready for the slog to the season’s finish.

City had arrived at 6.50pm, a lot later than they would have liked, their bus having been caught up in the­­ ­terrible traffic around these parts. But they were straight out of the blocks, subjecting Spurs to something of an ordeal in the first 20 minutes.

City pinned Spurs back, refusing to allow them out while their pass-and-move stuff added up to a statement of intent. “We’ve got Guardiola,” the travelling fans bellowed. Heaven ­forbid that he were to leave them at the end of the season. They almost had a fifth-minute lead, only for a belatedly raised offside flag to deny Oscar Bobb.

Dias went right to Kyle Walker, who crossed low after ­Destiny Udogie had slipped. There was Phil Foden and, when he unloaded, ­Vicario half-saved and the ball trickled onwards towards the line. Would it have crossed? Bobb did not hang around to find out, ­touching home from half a yard. Sadly for City he had strayed fractionally offside before Foden’s shot. After a long delay, the decision was upheld by the VAR. The more gruesome replays would be for Bobb to watch. The ball did look have had enough on it to go in.

The strange thing about the first half was that for all City’s swagger, the way that they nearly turned it into a training exercise, they ­struggled to create anything clearcut. ­Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic had shots blocked and a window into ­Guardiola’s mood was provided when Josko Gvardiol badly overhit a cross. Guardiola spun on his heels in ­annoyance. City’s approach play had been balletic.

Ange Postecoglou wanted to see his team impose themselves. There is no better measure of progress than to see whether it is possible against the best.

There was virtually ­nothing from them as an attacking force before the interval but the manager could be pleased at how his players dug in after City’s initial onslaught, working hard to track the runners, putting bodies on the line.

The home crowd loved it when Micky van de Ven got across to make a thunderous challenge on Foden. But not as much as they did when Pedro Porro threw himself into an ­important block to keep out a shot from Bobb in the 42nd minute. Rodri and Kovacic had seen efforts blocked in the buildup. Spurs were ­determined to let nothing pass.

The starting lineups were ­notable, in part, for who they did not ­contain. Postecoglou had held back James ­Maddison, naming him among the substitutes while Guardiola decided that this was not the night for De Bruyne to make his first start in almost six months. It felt as though timers were set for their introductions.

City continued to do their stuff on the ball upon the restart, Foden’s ­velvet touch so easy to watch. And Spurs continued to do theirs without it. Van de Ven drew more wild cheers when he diverted a Julián Álvarez effort behind at the last.

Could they offer anything in the final third? There was a pass from Timo Werner that sent Brennan ­Johnson chasing in on Stefan ­Ortega’s goal; the City cup goalkeeper got there first – just. Yet it served to energise the Spurs support. They were ready to get behind absolutely anything and they started to wonder whether it might just take one moment for their team.

The big moment from the point of view of the Spurs fans came in the 73rd minute when Postecoglou finally sent on Maddison. What a reception he received. By then, De Bruyne was on and the scene was set for something to happen. Postecoglou had practically ­guaranteed goals beforehand. Surely it wasn’t going to be a statemate? Akéensured that it would not be.