Where Is Erling Haaland? Manchester City Melt Down In Draw Against Tottenham

Manchester City are now six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal after succumbing to a 2-2 draw at Tottenham on Sunday. The visitors seemed in cruise control having raced into a two-goal lead in the first half, but threw that advantage away in damning circumstances as they lost further ground in the title race. It took only 11 minutes for City to open the scoring. Yves Bissouma had his pocket picked by Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland played the loose ball into Rayan Cherki, who ran towards the Spurs box and fired into the bottom corner. Cherki nearly had a brace when he wriggled his way past sliding challenges rom Cristian Romero and Bissouma before bringing an incredible save out of Guglielmo Vicario. But City eventually added their second on the stroke of half-time; Radu Dragusin’s aimless pass into midfield was cut out by Rodri, retrieved by Bernardo and squared for Antoine Semenyo to finish. On the other side of the break, Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced into a fine save to deny a fierce strike from countryman Destiny Udogie as Tottenham looked to mount a comeback. And Spurs had the ball in the net soon after through Dominic Solanke, who raced ahead of the City backline and finished from close range after being played through by Xavi Simons. Replays showed that while Solanke was marginally onside in build up, he kicked through the calf of Marc Guehi to force the ball in, with City unhappy a foul wasn’t given. With 20 minutes remaining, Tottenham pulled level in remarkable fashion. Conor Gallagher won the ball after Guehi’s header hit Nico Gonzalez, and the ex-Chelsea midfielder crossed for Solanke to convert with an outrageous scorpion kick that Donnarumma could only get a slight touch of his glove on. Donnarumma did make superb saves to deny Simons and Wilson Odobert in the minutes afterwards, while Tijjani Reijnders twice headed wide at the other end, but neither side could find a winner and the points were shared. GOAL rates City’s players from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium… Goalkeeper & Defense Gianluigi Donnarumma (8/10): Another game in which the saves of Donnarumma made up for City’s inability to stem back the tide. Matheus Nunes (6/10): Has quietly become a dependable right-back for City, with little fuss made over the Portuguese’s performance. Abdukodir Khusanov (6/10): For the most part was imperious and up to the challenge, but he was brutally bodied by Solanke leading to Spurs’ first goal and it wasn’t a pretty image for the Uzbekistan international. Marc Guehi (6/10): Like Khusanov, appeared to be on top of a limp Spurs, but the second half changed everything. Maybe a tad unfortunate to have not had a foul called against him for Solanke’s first but didn’t cover himself in glory for the second. Rayan Ait-Nouri (6/10): Tidy and sometimes adventurous in possession. Took on some heavy challenges before being subbed for Gonzalez. Midfield Rodri (6/10): Given quite a rough day by his Spurs counterparts, who repeatedly kicked the former Ballon d’Or winner’s shins to bits. Played a part in City’s second goal, winning possession back off Dragusin. Taken off for Marmoush in added time. Bernardo Silva (7/10): City’s best midfielder on the day, creating danger whenever he had the ball at his feet. Subbed for Foden late on. Nico O’Reilly (6/10): Pushed into midfield with Ait-Nouri coming in at left-back, though went back into defence when Gonzalez was introduced. Carried the ball well and dug in defensively. Attack Rayan Cherki (8/10): When Cherki was in his element, City looked unstoppable and really ought to have added to their first-half lead. Alas, he was subbed with a knock and it went pear-shaped. Erling Haaland (4/10): That’s now eight Premier League games without a non-penalty goal for the Golden Boot frontrunner, who was marked out of the game with relative ease despite Spurs’ uneasiness. Grabbed an assist before fading into the background of the game. Antoine Semenyo (7/10): Twice turned down a move to Tottenham over the last two transfer windows and came back to haunt the hosts with a fine finish. Grew frustrated Subs & Manager Tijjani Reijnders (6/10): Replaced Cherki and to his credit caused Spurs a lot of headaches with his runs from deep. Nico Gonzalez (5/10): On for Ait-Nouri but didn’t have the best of outings. Phil Foden (N/A): Brought on for the final knockings in place of Bernardo. Omar Marmoush (N/A): Came on for Rodri in stoppage time. Pep Guardiola (5/10): City had the game won and should have put it to bed, but their defensive ineptitude saw them drop further points in the title race.