Manchester City's slender victory at White Hart Lane, as seen through the eyes of Stats Zone, FREE on iOS and Android...
Spurs could still be out on the White Hart Lane turf now and they would not find a way past Joe Hart. It was one of those days. The Lilywhites were made to pay for a particularly profligate first half in which they registered 13 attempts on goal but tested the City shot-stopper with just two of them.
With Chelsea wrapping up the title earlier in the afternoon, the dethroned champions were able to halt a run of five consecutive away defeats in all competitions, with their primary target now to cement a place among the top three and qualify automatically for next season's Champions League.
Manuel Pellegrini had seen his City side score 15 goals past Spurs in their last three Premier League meetings, but just the one was enough on this occasion after the hosts had squandered a hatful of opportunities. Eric Dier and Harry Kane both missed the target in the opening five minutes, with Ryan Mason squandering the best chance of the half as his close-range shot was saved by England's No.1.
Those misses proved costly after Sergio Aguero raced away to notch his 10th league goal against Tottenham in just seven appearances, while Fernandinho twice went close.
The Premier League's leading sharpshooters tried and failed to break through after the interval; Kane denied by Hart, Aguero rounding Hugo Lloris but shanking the ball wide.
Second-half substitute Paulinho stung Hart's palms with a low drive, while another replacement, Samir Nasri, made a calamitous cameo appearance. Replacing Frank Lampard after 73 minutes, the Frenchman embarked on a run, was tackled by Eric Lamela, and departed the field soon after with a groin injury.
Lamela's acrobatic injury time effort was tipped over by Hart as Spurs fans departed exasperated. The Argentine had been creative for the home side, but none of his team-mates could capitalise.
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Match facts
David Silva now has 44 Premier League assists for Manchester City – 15 more than any other player.
Sergio Aguero has scored 10 goals in the Premier League against Spurs; more than against any other opponent.
Aguero now has 22 Premier League goals this season; one fewer than his previous best – 23 in his first PL campaign (2011/12).
Aguero has now scored 5 goals in his last 4 Premier League games.
Tottenham have kept just 1 clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League outings.
Man City have won 8 and lost just 1 of the last 9 Premier League meetings with Spurs.
Spurs have taken fewer points than any other team in the head-to-heads between the top six teams this season (8).
Analyse Spurs 0-1 Man City with Stats Zone
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
