Best games of matchweek nine!

Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Manchester City 

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

November 21st, 2020

Spurs came into this game in fantastic form. They had only lost once all season, and had won three straight coming into the game. Manchester City were not in their best form, having tied three times and lost once. This would be a very important three points for City, as they were far behind the top four. They also knew Spurs would go top of the table with a win, so they needed to pull out all the stops.

Even in a fairly even contest, Spurs seemed to have the longevity to beat out the Citizens. Yes, there were a few close calls—like the 8th minute, when Gabriel Jesus almost skipped past the entire defense before being tackled by Toby Alderweireld, but 9 out of 10 times Spurs had a response. As good as they were with their defensive work, Spurs were simply unstoppable going forward. 

Spurs’ first goal came when Tangay Ndombele received the ball in City territory, clipping the ball over the City defense to Son Heung-Min. The South Korean did the rest, sliding the ball through the legs of Ederson. The second goal was crafted by Harry Kane, who seems to enjoy assisting this season. The striker eased a swift pass to Giovani Lo Celso—on the pitch for a matter of seconds—who rolled it through Ederson’s legs: two nutmegs, two goals. Jose Mourinho will be ecstatic about their win. Spurs are serious title contenders. Look out.

Man City could argue that they were unlucky not to have won. Their midfield was persistent in intercepting passes. Rodri made some excellent tackles that kept Spurs out for periods of time. When it came to the final third, however, City would either be dispossessed or waste the chance altogether. City could have equalized with Aymeric Laporte’s goal, but VAR determined that Gabriel Jesus had made enough contact with his arm to rule it out. 

Regardless, City’s defense was quite poor. Dias was supposed to help hold the back line, but he didn’t communicate as much as necessary. In fact City almost conceded a freak goal, where Steven Bergwijn singlehandedly tore City’s defense to shreds, putting a through ball to Son who easily squared it to Kane inside the penalty box—but Kane was offside. Half of City’s defense was separated by METERS from the other half. Definitely a concern going into the busy holiday schedule.

Spurs will be convinced that they have a chance of winning the Premier League. Jose Mourinho is a serial winner, and it's only a matter of time before Spurs get their hands on a trophy of some sort. They are now top of the league, and will surely keep up this great run of form. Pep Guardiola just signed a new two-year deal, but this isn’t exactly the best way to announce it. He needs to focus less on attacking, and sort out his defensive issues.

Liverpool 3–0 Leicester City 

Anfield

November 22

Liverpool came into this game in trouble; they’d been bogged down in injuries, and were playing against one of the best teams in the league. This would be a huge test of character for Jurgen Klopp's team. There was a lot at stake for Leicster coming in. They were enjoying a great run of form on the road, winning every away game. Brendan Rodgers was looking to get his first managerial win against Liverpool.

But Liverpool took the game by storm upon kickoff, and never looked back. They  easily had the majority of the possession throughout the 90 minutes. Leicester would rarely dispossess Liverpool, and when they did, the Foxes were usually re-dispossessed right away. Fabinho was, again, superb filling in for the center back role, and James Milner did what James Milner does best—he deftly filled the gaps left open by injuries. 

The first Liverpool goal came from a corner kick, when Sadio Mane and Jonny Evans tussled with each other, resulting in an Evans own goal. He certainly should have cleared it. The second goal came when Andrew Robertson let fly an incredible cross for Diogo Jota to head in. Jota has been an inspired signing. He is now the first Liverpool player to score in his first 4 home games. The third goal marked the end of Roberto Firmino’s scoring drought, heading in a cross off a corner. 

Liverpool again showed why they are champions, confidently dispatching the Foxes, who were never truly in this game. Rodgers’s side were never first to any ball, and they rarely closed down the ball when the Reds were in possession. James Maddison and Youri Tielemans were a problem on paper for Liverpool, but in the end they were mainly reduced to more defensive roles to cope with Liverpool’s offensive pressure. Jonny Evans in particular was very indecisive. Kasper Schmeichel may have conceded three goals, but also made some great saves, and kept the scoresheet from becoming ridiculous. He made a wonderful save against Mane, stopping the striker on a one-and-one, tipping it over the bar. 

Klopp’s side showed that they have what it takes, even when the team is depleted by injuries. Leicester will be angry that they gave the game up like they did, and know that they could have taken some points from Anfield If they’d tried harder. It's up to Rodgers to gather his team and put this loss past them.