The 4th best game of last year's Premier League season was Tottenham 3-1 Manchester City. The game was critical to Spur's staying in the race for the Champions League spots; if they lost, then all of Gareth Bale's hard work, and yes, almost all the work for Tottenham had, up to this point, been done by the Welsh men, would go to naught.
Build Up:
Gaerth Bale returned for his first game since an ankle injury on April 4th, in a Europa League quarterfinal game against the Swedish side FC Basel. Spurs were coming in off poor form, having won only one of their past 7 games, but would now get the boost of having the best player in the Premier League. City, although the title race was effectively over, were picking up on a good run of form, having won 8 of their last 9 games. Both teams certainly wanted to win, but with Tottenham at home and absolutely needing a win, you could expect the North Londoners to be the more attacking squad of the two. However, it should be noted that Hotspurs had not beaten City since 2010, two years before.
The Game:
Clint Dempsey got the first real chance of the game, hitting a cross/shot hybrid that Joe Hart punched down and got a hold of. Directly off that save, Carlos Tevez dribbled to the corner flag, turned and passed a ball that split three defenders; a show of quality that only the Argentine and maybe Messi could have pulled off. James Milner took the ball down the line, and hit a waist level cross that Samir Nasri volleyed to the far post. Kyle Walker almost saved it on the line, but the ball got past him. City up 1-0, not good for Tottenham. It took almost the rest of the game for Spurs to strike back, but finally they equalised, after Gareth Bale made one of the best outside foot passes you will ever see. The American merely stuck out a foot to redirect the beautiful pass into the net. White Hart Lane had hope now. Several minutes later Gylfi Sigurdsson hit Jerome Defoe with a through ball; the striker took several touches, tapped the ball back inside, and, using Vincent Kompany as a guide, curled the ball past Joe Hart. Just 3 minutes later Gareth Bale sealed the game for the North Londoners, lobbing Hart. That put the finishing touch on a fantastic comeback for Spurs.
Aftermath:
Spurs needed the win to stay in the race for Champions League; although they would end up falling short, at the time they looked like they were gonna challenge Arsenal and Chelsea. City, with the title having been lost, focused on the FA Cup, which they also ended up losing, to Wigan, who would be relegated from the League on the last day of the season. What really took away from this game was the overall quality of play. Although the goals were brilliant, the game was exciting only in the first 5 minutes and last 15.
Stay tuned for the rest of the list, as well as all of Pitch View's countdown to the start of the season.
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