Erling Haaland and Stefan Ortega Moreno were the match-winners in Man City’s win at Spurs. Both were showered with praise by their teammates
It was the 86th minute of the game when Manuel Akanji lost the ball and gave Spurs a great chance. Heung-Min Son broke through and ran alone towards the Man City goal. Stefan Ortega Moreno had been in goal since the 69th minute. The 31-year-old had already made two saves against Dejan Kulusevski and was also invincible against Tottenham’s captain. Ortega Moreno came out of his goal, stood still for a long time at the penalty spot and then quickly stuck out his right leg to prevent the equalizer
And that despite Ortega Moreno not having long to warm up. In the 62nd minute, Spurs defender Romero crashed into Ederson and was shown a yellow card for his foul. The City keeper had to be treated for a long time, but tried again and was not happy with his substitution shortly afterwards. While Ederson continued to grumble on the bench, his replacement was immediately up to speed
Akanji’s thanks and Rodri’s praise
To Akanji’s great relief: “I went to him straight after the game and thanked him. Many thanks to Stefan for keeping the ball.” And Rodri also knew who to thank on the Sky microphone after the game, which brought the Sky Blues very close to their fourth title in a row: “Stefan saved us, he was simply incredible.” Pep Guardiola also joined in: “Stefan Ortega Moreno saved us, otherwise Arsenal would be Premier League champions. “
Rodri praised “all the players who came in”. Jeremy Doku also played a decisive role in the 2:0 victory. The winger had been substituted along with Ortega Morena because Kevin De Bruyne had to come off after a kick on the Achilles tendon alongside Ederson, into whom Romero had crashed. Shortly before the end, Doku took the penalty, which Haaland converted safely for the final score
Haaland makes the difference
The Norwegian also featured in Rodri’s hymn of praise: “I think we have the best striker in the world. He made the difference today. The team needed two goals.” And Haaland, who had barely featured before his goals, especially in the first half, delivered.
As a result, the Skyblues moved into first place just in time for the season finale on Sunday. The reigning champions have a two-point lead over Arsenal ahead of their final game at home to West Ham.