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Erling Haaland’s double put Manchester City within touching distance of an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title as it beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 away on Tuesday.
The Norwegian tapped home his side’s opener early in the second half and settled City’s nerves in stoppage time when he blasted home a penalty for his 27th league goal of the season.
City had failed to earn a point or score a goal in its first four league visits to Tottenham’s new stadium but ended that jinx in timely fashion to the joy of its supporters.
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Pep Guardiola’s City has 88 points to Arsenal’s 86 and will be guaranteed to make history if it beats West Ham United at home on Sunday when Arsenal hosts Everton.
It was far from a vintage City performance and it almost conceded an equaliser to Son Heung-min late in the game, just before Haaland made sure it kept its destiny in its own hands.
Defeat ended Tottenham’s slim hopes of finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League, although it was a result welcomed by some sections of its fans who were loath to see their team offer up a huge title gift to arch-rival Arsenal.
Some Tottenham fans even indulged in the Poznan, which is a trademark of City’s fans, while chants of “Are You Watching Arsenal” echoed around the stadium in the latter stages.
City is now unbeaten in 22 league games and has again showed it is the master of pacing a title chase.
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Yet it was strangely lethargic in the first half and was given an early fright when Ederson, who was later forced off after a blow to the head, had to tip Rodrigo Bentancur’s fierce rising drive over the crossbar.
City was stuck in second gear and its best chance before the interval was courtesy of a horrible clearance by Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg that fell for Phil Foden but his volley was superbly saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
Such was the tepid nature of the first half that, for the first time this season in the Premier League, there was not time added on at the end of the first half.
AS IT HAPPENED: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City Highlights
City might have begun to fear that its Tottenham curse was striking again when Kevin De Bruyne’s snap shot was superbly saved by Vicario just after the interval but it could finally breathe a sigh of relief soon afterwards.
De Bruyne was just onside as he was played in on the right and his low pass was tapped in by Haaland.
Still City looked edgy though and its heart was in its mouth as the clock ticked down when Son seized on a mistake and ran through with only Stefan Ortega to beat but the substitute keeper made a superb save.
And when Jeremy Doku was fouled by Pedro Porro and Haaland rammed home his penalty, the away fans could finally relax.
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