Saturday August 14, 2010 Day 1 Finished White Hart Lane

  1. Hart hands City point at Spurs

    Hart hands City point at Spurs

    Goalkeeper Joe Hart was the hero as Manchester City drew 0-0 away to Tottenham Hotspur in the opening game of the Premier League season. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Tottenham Hotspur
    • Manchester City
    • - Stay with us for live coverage of every Premier League game throughout the season. And from 00:01 on Monday, we'll have exclusive video highlights of all the weekend's games!
    • 90+4' Tottenham clear after a scramble in their box, and that's the final act of the game. It finishes goalless, but an entertaining start to the Premier League season.
    • 90+3' Free-kick City, which Yaya Toure takes quickly. City happy just to keep the ball and hold what they have.
    • 90+1' Good defending from Assou-Ekotto to snuff out a Johnson run down the right and he wins a goal kick.
    • 90' We're going to have four minutes of added time.
    • 89' Pavlyuchenko again, lacing a left-foot shot wide from 25 yards. He's certainly been involved.
    • 88' Corner Tottenham after Luka Modric sees his shot deflected wide.
    • 87' Great ball from Bale to supply Pavlyuchenko, but Kompany makes yet another vital block!
    • 86' Long ball over the top from Barry for Adebayor to chase... skips through to Gomes.
    • 84' Pavlyuchenko races down the right and crosses... Keane's effort is blocked and De Jong gets in the way of Bale's follow-up! A real chance for Spurs!
    • 83' No, it's Tevez who makes way for Adebayor - the Togolese striker gets a few jeers in his capacity as a former Arsenal man. Not that he's too popular at the Emirates either...
    • 82' Emmanuel Adebayor is about to come on for City - for David Silva?
    • 81' Great piece of skill from Bale to drag the ball past Richards, but he runs into De Jong.
    • 80' Tevez hits a rasping 25 yarder but once again King gets his head in the way of it.
    • 78' Dos Santos nearly has an immediate chance but his first touch is a little heavy and it runs through to Hart.
    • 77' Final change for Tottenham - Giovani dos Santos comes on for Aaron Lennon. Great performance from Lennon.
    • 76' Lennon jinks inside from the right and has a crack with his left foot... easy for Hart.
    • 75' Dawson clears for a City throw, but Spurs look a little hesitant at the back.
    • 74' Yaya Toure leaps high to clear a Bale corner as Harry Redknapp has a chat with Joe Jordan. Another change?
    • 72' Hart gets rid of the ball hurriedly and Spurs win it back. Pavlyuchenko tries another 25-yarder but Hart is equal to it again!
    • 72' Tottenham race away on the break after clearing a corner... Modric tees up PAVLYUCHENKO!! Hart saves low to his right!
    • 72' Johnson cuts in from the right wing and squares for Tevez whose shot takes a wicked deflection... wide! Corner.
    • 71' And right on cue, Bale booms a cross out for a goal kick.
    • 70' Remember you can rate the players in ths match if you've got a Yahoo! ID. At the moment you fine people quite rightly have Gareth Bale and Joe Hart as the game's outstanding performers.
    • 69' Silva corner from the City right... into the hands of Gomes.
    • 68' Double change up front for Spurs: Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchyenko replace Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.
    • 68' Johnson replaces Wright-Phillips, not before time, as rain falls in North London.
    • 67' A few groans from the home fans as Huddlestone misplaces a through ball.
    • 66' Now Mancini is issuing instructions. Johnson looks confused.
    • 65' David Platt is showing Adam Johnson all manner of diagrams. Just let the boy play...
    • 64' 'Champions League, you're having a laugh' - The fact is has taken 63 and a half minutes for the City fans to chant that for the first time says a lot about how well Tottenham have played.
    • 63' Lennon is away down the right again and crosses for Crouch... whose header drops wide.
    • 62' Yaya Toure dinks it through to the overlapping Micah Richards, who heads straight at Gomes.
    • 61' De Jong fires a long shot into the legs of King. This is better from City though.
    • 60' Yellow card Pablo Zabaleta for a cynical block on the flying Lennon.
    • 59' Emmanuel Adebayor is also warming up on the sidelines. Both sides have lost a bit of oomph.
    • 58' Robbie Keane has apparently been electric in pre-season, and may get on in place of the struggling Crouch.
    • 57' Another Bale cross finds Ledley King in the box... he attempts to juggle the ball but he plays centre-back for a reason and City clear.
    • 56' Lennon wins a corner off Zabaleta on the Spurs right - the sub playing on his weaker side.
    • 55' Crouch looks to bring it away on the brak but misplaces his pass to Defoe. Spurs could be running out of steam here.
    • 54' Silva with an outswinging corner from the City left... King wins the header and Spurs hack the ball away.
    • 52' A first-half stat courtesy of OptaJoe: 18.2% - Just under a fifth of Spurs' passes have been played long in the first half, compared to just 8.4% by Manchester City. OptaJoe
    • 51' Yaya Toure dinks a through ball for Silva whose shot is blocked, and Tevez grabs the rebound but cannot do anything with it.
    • 50' City are getting men back behind the ball. If they're not going to dominate the game, it looks like they are determined not to get carved open like they were in the first half.
    • 49' Kolarov has his foot in a bucket of ice - maybe not a purely tactical change by Mancini.
    • 47' Lennon crosses from the right for Crouch who tries an overhead kick, but he catches Wright-Phillips in the head. In fairness, SWP is only knee-high to Crouchy but it is dangerous play from the striker.
    • 46' Wright-Phillips beats the offside trap and has a great chance... but he dawdles an age and Assou-Ekotto recovers to make a vital tackle. What a chance for City!
    • 46' City kick the second half off - what adjustments have they made to cope with the Tottenham onslaught?
    • 46' A half-time change by Roberto Mancini - Pablo Zabaleta replaces Aleksandar Kolarov.
    • 45' Half-time at White Hart Lane. It has been Tottenham's half but the game remains goalless. Joe Hart has repaid Roberto Mancini's faith with a sensational array of saves.
    • 45+1' One minute of injury time only to be played.
    • 45' Kompany wrestles Defoe to the ground - he's on a booking and needs to be careful. Free-kick taken quickly to Lennon whose low cross is scrambled clear.
    • 44' Barry lays it off for Tevez, who shoots from the edge of the box. Blocked.
    • 42' Wild shot from Kolarov, who has a foot like a traction engine but needs to sort out the radar. If that's not too many metaphors.
    • 41' Emmanuel Adebayor has scored six goals in nine PL matches against Tottenham. If he scores today he will have netted more PL goals against them than any other PL club – he has currently also scored six PL goals against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County. Any chance of seeing him from the bench later?
    • 40' A quiet spell as City look to slow the tempo. They will be delighted to get to half-time on level terms.
    • 38' Yaya Toure has a crack... smothered by Gomes, but it's a shot on target at least.
    • 37' Bale delivers a fantastic cross from the left but there is nobody attacking the six-yard box for Spurs. The Welshman has been superb.
    • 36' Tottenham have had eight shots on target to none from City. Says it all, really. Stunning performance by Joe Hart.
    • 34' Hardly time to pause for breath. Without wanting to sound like a Sky TV apologist, this is why people love the Premier League. Tremendous action so far.
    • 32' HOW ARE SPURS NOT IN FRONT?! Defoe races into the box and has his shot saved, then he seizes on a rebound with Hart beaten, but a defender is in the way of his shot yet again!
    • 31' BALE HITS THE POST!! Finally Hart is beaten, but the Welshman's low shot comes back off the base of the right'hand post! And the follow-up is blocked!
    • 30' High foot from De Jong and Spurs get bodies forward for the free-kick.
    • 29' Big penalty shout as Bale is bundled over inside the box by Richards. Nothing doing, says referee Marriner!
    • 28' Hart defies Defoe again!! His low shot from close range is saved by the goalkeeper's legs!
    • 28' Silva crosses low from the City left, and Heurelho Gomes does well to get down and claim it.
    • 27' The ball nearly drops kindly for Tevez inside the box but he cannot get his shot away. City almost in front against the run of play.
    • 27' Bale is released down the left and tries to outpace Kolo Toure... but the City defender does well to win it back.
    • 27' No, the defender knocks it into the box and Spurs put the ball out for a throw.
    • 26' SWP is hacked 40 yards from the Tottenham goal and it looks like Kolarov might have a crack from here...
    • 25' Bale's shot from the free-kick is on target but lacks zip and Hart makes a simple catch.
    • 24' The first booking of the season goes to Vincent Kompany for a clumsy challenge on Defoe. Bale will fancy this free-kick, 25 yards out on the right.
    • 23' First glimpse of quality from David Silva, who jinks inside from the right and has a left-foot shot blocked. He is getting plenty of licence to roam in behind Tevez.
    • 22' Finally City get a bit of time on the ball after a really difficult opening 20 minutes.
    • 21' The TV cameras focus on Fabio Capello - the unspoken question: Why didn't you play Hart at the World Cup, you numpty?
    • 20' Overzealous from Dawson, who goes in late and treads on Tevez's foot. Referee Marriner decides a ticking off is all that's required here.
    • 19' Amazing stuff here - Spurs completely in the ascendancy and only an inspired Joe Hart is keeping City in it.
    • 18' HART AGAIN!! Tottenham completely on top at the moment as they win another corner. This one is cleared to Assou-Ekotto whose deflected long shot is heading for the top-right corner before Hart readjusts and pushes it over!
    • 16' HART TO THE RESCUE AGAIN!! He punches a corner clear, but Huddlestone returns it with interest on the volley, and Hart dives sharply to his right to push it behind for another corner!
    • 16' Aaron Lennon is having a real go at Kolarov down the Spurs right... this time the Serbian manages to put it our for a throw. Tough start for Kolarov.
    • 15' That's what De Jong does so well - he charges down a powerful Modric shot.
    • 14' A bit of aggro in midfield, and World Cup panto villain Nigel de Jong gets a ticking off - no studs in anyone's chest this time, though.
    • 12' The comments board may not be too happy about the selection of Joe Hart, but that really was a fantastic save from the England goalkeeper. Definitely one to watch later.
    • 11' BRILLIANT SAVE BY HART!! He reacts superbly to claw away Defoe's goalbound volley from close range! Sensational!
    • 10' Deep cross from the left-back Kolarov. Too deep, out for a goal-kick.
    • 9' Bale delivers to the back post for CROUCH!! His downward header bounces up and Hart pushes it over - but the striker is adjudged to have fouled.
    • 8' Luka Modric goes down and wins a free-kick for Spurs on the right - a dangerous one for Gareth Bale to curl into the six-yard box.
    • 7' Good feet from Crouch to turn at the edge of the box and find Lennon, whose pacy cross is deflected for a Spurs corner... Kolo Toure heads clear.
    • 6' SWP cuts inside from the rigth and gets ub a decent position but balloons his left-foot volley high into the crowd. What do people reckon about him starting ahead of Adam Johnson?
    • 5' Tevez drops deep and pings a long ball out to the right for Wright-Phillips - who is beaten in the air by Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Good tempo here.
    • 4' David Silva played in Mexico City on Wednesday night and will presumably not play 90 minutes today. But he's done well to make the starting line-up. Silva scored a late equaliser for Spain against Mexico.
    • 3' Less certain from Hart, who controls a backpass but dawdles and his clearance is nearly charged down by Jermain Defoe.
    • 2' First touch for Hart, who boots a long clearance downfield.
    • 1' The 2010/11 Premier League season is under way! Tottenham kick off, playing from right to left as we see it. Crouch wastes no time firing off a long shot which is blocked.
    • 12:44 Peter Crouch comes in for a bit of joshing from the City fans after a, er, difficult week. He'll hope to feature on the back pages rather than the front ones tomorrow.
    • 12:43 The teams come out to a tremendous reception. New kits for both teams - Spurs in white with a navy sash across the top - City in navy blue. Surprising to see Carlos Tevez leading City out, Ledley King skippers Spurs.
    • 12:42 Have your say on the message board below. Here's Niall on the Hart/Given situation: "Hart instead of Given?? Well done mancini, you havent a clue. Best keeper in the premiership on the bench. I hope you boys get stuffed. Come on you spurs!"
    • 12:40 No Fabio Capello tactics for Roberto Mancini, who reveals he told Shay Given he was dropped yesterday. Emmanuel Adebayor is fit, just not picked.
    • 12:40 Sven Goran Eriksson backs Mancini's decision to play Hart. Shay Given is surely bound for Celtic, Sunderland or Fulham before the end of the month. Latest transfer news
    • 12:35 Even more shocking news than the axeing of Shay Given - Roberto Mancini is not wearing a scarf.
    • 12:35 Carlos Tevez is one short of 50 Premier League goals. If he scores today he will become only the second South American player to reach this milestone after Gustavo Poyet (54).
    • 12:30 Tottenham have met Manchester City once before on the opening day of a PL season – drawing 1-1 at Maine Road in 1995. Teddy Sheringham put Spurs ahead before Uwe Rosler equalised for Manchester City.
    • 12:25 Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, meanwhile, could cause a stir if he signs former Arsenal captain William Gallas. He said: "I like Gallas. I think he's a great free transfer. I thought at the start of the year there were three fantastic free transfers available -- David James, Joe Cole and William Gallas. It's a possibility. His wages aren't a problem. He has not been greedy at all. His people have rung up and we spoke about it." Redknapp: We want Gallas
    • 12:20 Roberto Mancini has said he is not worried about Mario Balotelli's temper, saying the Italian is just a typical young man: "Balotelli is a young guy and he is a good guy. Like all the young men, sometimes his behaviour is not good. But it is wrong to say he is not a good man. I don't believe he will have a big problem." Mancini unfazed by Balotelli temper
    • 12:15 City took their summer spending past the £100 million mark yesterday with the signing of loose cannon Mario Balotelli. Their other big arrivals: Jerome Boateng, Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure, David Silva - and James Milner in the next few days. Summer ins and outs
    • 12:10 Manchester City have not won in their last seven Premier League visits to White Hart Lane, losing the last six, since a 2-0 victory in April 2003. This is their longest ever run of consecutive away defeats against another PL club.
    • 12:10 Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City have met 122 times in the league. Tottenham have won 47, Manchester City 45 and there have been 30 draws.
    • 12:06 Carlos Tevez is Manchester City's captain today...
    • 12:05 TEAMS - TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Modric, Huddlestone, Bale, Crouch, Defoe... Subs: Cudicini, Kaboul, Pavlyuchenko, Keane, Palacios, Giovani, Bassong... MAN CITY: Hart, Richards, K Toure, Kompany, Kolarov, Wright-Phillips, Y Toure, De Jong, Barry, Silva, Tevez... Subs: Given, Zabaleta, Adebayor, Adam Johnson, Lescott, Vieira, Jo... Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands)
    • 12:03 The teams are in and the big news for City is that Joe Hart starts ahead of Shay Given in goal. David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov and Yaya Toure all start, while Adam Johnson and Emmanuel Adebayor are on the bench. Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch start up front for Spurs.
    • 12:00 The Premier League is back! Welcome to live coverage of the season's opening game, as Champions League qualifiers Tottenham take on big-spending Manchester City at White Hart Lane!

  • Summary

    • - Stay with us for live coverage of every Premier League game throughout the season. And from 00:01 on Monday, we'll have exclusive video highlights of all the weekend's games!
    • 90' We're going to have four minutes of added time.
    • 84' Pavlyuchenko races down the right and crosses... Keane's effort is blocked and De Jong gets in the way of Bale's follow-up! A real chance for Spurs!
    • 72' Hart gets rid of the ball hurriedly and Spurs win it back. Pavlyuchenko tries another 25-yarder but Hart is equal to it again!
    • 72' Tottenham race away on the break after clearing a corner... Modric tees up PAVLYUCHENKO!! Hart saves low to his right!
    • 72' Johnson cuts in from the right wing and squares for Tevez whose shot takes a wicked deflection... wide! Corner.
    • 46' Wright-Phillips beats the offside trap and has a great chance... but he dawdles an age and Assou-Ekotto recovers to make a vital tackle. What a chance for City!
    • 32' HOW ARE SPURS NOT IN FRONT?! Defoe races into the box and has his shot saved, then he seizes on a rebound with Hart beaten, but a defender is in the way of his shot yet again!
    • 31' BALE HITS THE POST!! Finally Hart is beaten, but the Welshman's low shot comes back off the base of the right'hand post! And the follow-up is blocked!
    • 28' Hart defies Defoe again!! His low shot from close range is saved by the goalkeeper's legs!
    • 18' HART AGAIN!! Tottenham completely on top at the moment as they win another corner. This one is cleared to Assou-Ekotto whose deflected long shot is heading for the top-right corner before Hart readjusts and pushes it over!
    • 16' HART TO THE RESCUE AGAIN!! He punches a corner clear, but Huddlestone returns it with interest on the volley, and Hart dives sharply to his right to push it behind for another corner!
    • 11' BRILLIANT SAVE BY HART!! He reacts superbly to claw away Defoe's goalbound volley from close range! Sensational!
    • 9' Bale delivers to the back post for CROUCH!! His downward header bounces up and Hart pushes it over - but the striker is adjudged to have fouled.
    • 12:00 The Premier League is back! Welcome to live coverage of the season's opening game, as Champions League qualifiers Tottenham take on big-spending Manchester City at White Hart Lane!

Team Line-up & Ratings

  • Line-up

    Live Team Line-Up

    • Starting line-up

      • Gomes
      • V. Corluka
      • M. Dawson
      • L. King
      • B. Assou-Ekotto
      • T. Huddlestone
      • L. Modric
      • A. Lennon Substitution Out (77′)
      • G. Bale
      • P. Crouch Substitution Out (68′)
      • J. Defoe Substitution Out (68′)

      Subs

      • C. Cudicini
      • R. Keane Substitution In68′
      • S. Bassong
      • G. Dos Santos Substitution In77′
      • W. Palacios
      • R. Pavlyuchenko Substitution In68′
      • Y. Kaboul

    • Starting line-up

      • J. Hart
      • M. Richards
      • K. Touré
      • V. Kompany Yellow Card
      • A. Kolarov Substitution Out (45′)
      • N. de Jong
      • Y. Touré
      • G. Barry
      • S. Wright-Phillips Substitution Out (68′)
      • D. Silva
      • C. Tévez Substitution Out (83′)

      Subs

      • P. Vieira
      • S. Given
      • J. Lescott
      • E. Adebayor Substitution In83′
      • A. Johnson Substitution In68′
      • P. Zabaleta Substitution In45′ Yellow Card
      • Jô

  • Rate Players

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    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      - -
      Defenders
      - -
      - -
      - -
      - -
      Midfielders
      - -
      - -
      Substitution Out77′ - -
      - -
      Strikers
      Substitution Out68′ - -
      Substitution Out68′ - -
      Subs
      Substitution In68′ - -
      Substitution In77′ - -
      Substitution In68′ - -
    • Player Y! Users Expert My Rating
      Goalkeeper
      - -
      Defenders
      - -
      - -
      Yellow Card - -
      Substitution Out45′ - -
      Midfielders
      - -
      - -
      - -
      Strikers
      Substitution Out68′ - -
      - -
      Substitution Out83′ - -
      Subs
      Substitution In83′ - -
      Substitution In68′ - -
      Substitution In45′ Yellow Card - -

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