Mauricio Pochettino masterminded what was surely Tottenham’s best performance in Europe since the 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in November 2017, with his brave and aggressive press paying off as Man City were kept at arms’ length in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The most impressive feature was their timed pressing. They sat in formation 10 yards off the City centre-backs for long periods, engaging only on heavy touches to capitalise on any nervousness.

Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, and Christian Eriksen blocked the passing lanes for City’s back four while Dele Alli followed Fernandinho around the pitch, which meant the visitors just could not get a grip on the game.

Pep Guardiola’s side need possession to grind “big six” teams into submission, but on Tuesday they just could not find a way to turn on the ball or thread it towards their front four.

In attack, Spurs focused on long switches of play wherever possible, which meant dragging players to one side before (mostly Kane’s) cross-field passes could isolate one of the City full-backs.

It was clear that Fabian Delph and Danilo were City’s weakest players, and it was no surprise to see the hosts target both of them; Son versus Delph, a mismatch Spurs tried to exploit all game, eventually forced the breakthrough.

Credits: Uefa.com