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Peter Crouch says the only reason why Tottenham didn’t beat Man City is because Pep Guardiola has £51m player

Srinivas Sadhanand

Thu 27 February 2025 12:45, UK

On another day, Tottenham Hotspur would perhaps have at least earned a point instead of losing 1-0 to a struggling Manchester City side who were far from their vintage best.

However, Ange Postecoglou pinpointed Tottenham’s wastefulness agai𒆙nst Manchester City in possession during the first halfꦺ that ultimately meant they “paid the price.”

While the statistics suggest that City deservedly won on Wednesday, they also showcase that Tottenham merited getting more out of the contest.

Spurs accumulated an xG (Expected Goals) of 1.33, created two big chances, took 11 shots and forced Manchester City number one Ederson Moraes into making six saves.

While the Sky Blues had a better xG (2.12), created more big chances (four) and took more shots (12) than Tottenham, Guglielmo Vicario had to make two less save♓s than Ederson — which goes to show how closely-fought the affair was.

But at the end of the day, Ange Postecoglou might only be concerned about the facts on display that Erling Haaland won Manchest🐽er City the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Peter Crouch says Tottenham missed Dominic Solanke vs Man City and makes Erling Haaland claim

Haaland’🥀s goal was one that could have been avoided by Tottenham had Jeremy Doku n🔯ot been given acres of space to deliver the ball into the box for the Norwegian international to tuck into the back of the net.

Meanwhile, Dominic Solanke was sidelined through an injury fo🍷r Ange Postecoglou’s side, which made it difficult for them to respond after conceding at the Norwegian’s hands.

Peter Crouch firmly believes that the sole reason why Manchester City beat Tottenha♔m is because they have Haaland at their disposal while his former club are sorely missing a clinical centre-forward in Solanke.

Crouch said live on TNT Sports: “In all honesty, neither team are whether they want to be at the moment, right? I didn’t think Man City were blistering today, they’re not where they want to be and I think the difference probably was Er💝ling Haaland.”

They’ve got someone clinical, Manchester City u🀅p front and Tottenham haven’t got that at the moment, they’re missing [Dominic] Solanke, he’s a huge miss for them, didn’t create enough and weren’t clinical enough whereas City took their chance and even at the end, Haaland was unlucky with that and that’s the difference between two sides that are probably struggling for confidence at the moment.”

The Spurs striker has impressed up until now, with Jamꦐie Carragher admitting Solanke proved him wrong after initially doubting how he would perform in a Tottenham shirt. Even Ange Po💫stecoglou claimed Solanke must be impressing Thomas T🐼uchel as he looks like a potentially top-class൩ heir 💫to Harry Kane.

Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke’s record vs Manchester City

The good news for Tottenham is that Postecoglou confirmed Solanke will be fit soon — citing seven to 10⛦ days before he is back on the pitch again.

But unfortunately for the North Londoners, they really missed a focal point against City, with Ange Postecoglou claiming Mathys Tel needs a rest as he had a quiet game on Wednesday.

Judging by Solanke’s record against Manchester City, however, histꦬory suggests he would have🎐 been ineffective as the Englishman has registered just one assist in seven appearances against them.

In fairness to the former AFC Bournemouth stꦰriker, his one and only assist against the Sky Blues emerged when he was playing for Tottenham.

But as Peter Crouch stated, the biggest advantage at Manchester City’s disposal was that they had one of the b꧒est strikers in the world fit and firing for them in Haalandဣ.

The £51 million () man is well and truly an enigma and often, tactics and player quality go out of the window when he is in the moo🎀d to deliver — which is the case more often than not.