Man City boss Pep Guardiola insisted his side put in a ‘good performance’ tonight despite slipping to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Roared on by a raucous home support, Spurs began the game with impressive intensity but looked destined to go a goal down after 12 minutes, when Danny Rose was controversially adjudged to have handled the ball in the area by VAR.
However, City striker Sergio Aguero’s tame effort from the spot was saved by Hugo Lloris. Although neither side created too many clear cut chances, Spurs were probably shading the affair until the 55th minute when England skipper Harry Kane was forced off with what looked like a serious ankle injury after a touchline challenge with international teammate Fabian Delph.
As so often has been the case this season though, in the absence of the talismanic Kane, Son Heung-Min stepped up to the plate in the 78th minute, powering home a left-footed strike after cutting in from the byline.
City huffed and puffed towards the end, but Spurs held on for a famous win in what was the first European game in their state of the art new stadium.
Speaking after the game Guardiola felt his side had controlled the game.
“There are always key moments in football. It is the Champions League and the result is what it is,” Guardiola told BT Sport.
“We played well and we were controlling the game. We had our chances with the penalty so it was a good performance but it is the Champions League and that is the challenge.”
When asked about Sergio Aguero’s penalty miss Guardiola replied:
“Next time we will score. Now we have to prepare for Crystal Palace. We do not have time to think about Tottenham.”
