Nathan Ake netted a controversial 88th minute winner to seal a 1-0 Fourth Round win for Manchester City over Tottenham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Ake pounced upon a loose clearance by Tottenham goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario to smash in the winner from close-range, amidst a foul by Ruben Dias upon the Italian which Video-Assistant Referee (VAR) deemed a legal challenge.
The result meant that City continue their title defence as they marched on into the Fifth Round, and will be in the hat for the draw which takes place on Sunday 28 January, live on ITV1 in the UK from circa 2pm GMT.
Elsewhere, Bristol City and Chelsea were held to goalless draws by Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa respectively which meant that both ties headed to replays, as did Sheffield Wednesday after the Owls held Coventry to a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough.
With five defeats and no goals in their five previous visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, all eyes were quickly on defending champions – Man City as they began with a dominant highly intense attack in the opening minutes.
That tactical decision almost reaped its reward after just five minutes as Phil Foden turned Kyle Walker’s cross upon goal, yet Vicario could only block the shot to Oscar Bobb who rolled the ball in from close-range but the youngster’s goal was ruled offside.
City continued to dominate the first half as Julian Alvarez saw a 11th minute shot blocked, whilst Josko Gvardiol fired his shot over the bar in the 25th minute.
Tottenham meanwhile struggled to create many first-half chances but Brennan Johnson was involved in their best chance of the opening 30 minutes, with his 24th minute cross towards an unmarked Richarlison saved by Stefan Ortega.
Play grinded to an unexpected halt in the 33rd minute after one of the linesmen had to change their earpiece set due to technical issues, with play eventually resumed in the 36th minute.
Totttenham proceeded to take advantage of that unexpected stoppage as they soon threatend City’s goal with little luck until Dias blocked a cross towards Richarlison in the 41st minute.
Seconds later, Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens broke forward and Bobb’s shot was deflected behind by Pedro Porro after Rodri and Mateo Kovacic saw shots blocked initially.
City continued to threaten even inside six minutes of stoppage time as Bobb chased down a long ball, yet his cutback pass was smashed over by Foden as the score remained deadlocked at half-time.
Like at the start of the first half, City began the second half on the front foot and almost took the lead in the 48th minute but Alvarez fired over the bar from Bobb’s cross.
Spurs however were soon screaming at referee, Paul Tierney for a 54th minute penalty after Timo Werner’s cross seemingly was handballed by Dias, but replays showed that Tierney was correct to ignore the appeals becuse the ball struck Dias’ chest rather than left arm.
That chance sparked the hosts into further life as Johnson saw a low cross roll across the box to Richarlison, from which Kulusevski’s side-footed effort from the Brazilian’s short pass was saved by Ortega.
City made a double substitution in the 65th minute as Bobb and Alvarez were substituted for Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Buyne, whilst Spurs responded seven minutes later as Johnson and Rodrigo Bentancur came off for Oliver Skipp and James Maddison.
Skipp’s appearance marked his 100th senior outing for the club whilst this game was Maddison’s first appearance since he suffered an ankle injury in a dramatic league clash against Chelsea in early November.
City’s substitutions however had the bigger impact but their poor luck at Tottenham continued as Bernardo Silva’s 81st minute shot was saved by Vicario, whilst De Bruyne intercepted a loose pass but unmarked he blasted his shot wide of the left corner.
Doku almost won the game for Man City in the 86th minute as he beat Porro but Vicario crucially blocked his shot, whilst Silva blasted over the bar from the subsequent corner and De Bruyne then fired wide as the visitors desperately looked to avoid a replay.
City’s reward ultimately came from a 88th minute corner as Dias fouled Vicario as he made the block, which allowed Ake to calmly poke in from close-range much to the anger of Spurs players and home fans, as the Dutch defender netted the Cityzens’ first goal at Tottenham’s new home.
Tottenham ultimately couldn’t find a late equaliser as their 35-match scoring streak in all competitions ended, and consequently missed out on a place in the Fifth Round, whilst City continue their title defence.
Speaking to ITV1 post-match, Ake said that he was “so happy” to have scored in the Fourth Round in consecutive seasons, having scored the winner against Arsenal at this stage last season albeit at home on that occasion.
Ake however admitted that City had dug deep to avoid the replay as he continued: “It was tough but I think we played well all game.
“We trusted the way we played, we created multiple chances and had the belief to keep going even though we weren’t scoring. I thought it was never going to come but it finally did.
“I think it was important to go through, we want to be in every competition possible and now we’re through to the next round.”
What’s Next?
Tottenham host Brentford in a London derby in the Premier League at 7:30pm GMT on Wednesday 31 January.
Man City meanwhile will also be at home at the same time on that evening, as Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens entertain Burnley.
Teams
Tottenham: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Mickey van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Scarlett 90+1′), Rodrigo Bentancur (Maddison 73′), Dejam Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson (Skipp 72′), Richarlison, Timo Werner
Substitutes: Fraser Forster, Emerson Royal, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Oliver Skipp, James Maddison, Bryan Gil, Yago Santiago, Dane Scarlett
Manchester City: Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol, Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Oscar Bobb (Doku 65′), Julian Alvarez (De Bruyne 65′)
Substitutes: Ederson, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Gomez, Matheus Nunes, Mahamadou Susoho, Rico Lewis
Referee – Paul Tierney
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