Tottenham Hotspur Vs. Manchester City Match Report: Welcome To The Edin Dzeko Show

Well...that happened. Tottenham Hotspur had their first home match of the campaign and it didn't end well for the home side. Manchester City brought a full strength squad to White Hart Lane including new addition Samir Nasri. Spurs were overwhelmed in this match and the 5-1 final shows just that. Spurs were rarely able to keep possession and even when they were able to quickly counter keeper Joe Hart's goal was rarely threatened.

Poor marking and the brilliance of Edin Dzeko proved to be the undoing for Spurs in this game. Vedran Corluka had a difficult time containing City's attack down the right flank and Samir Nasri was able to provide Dzeko with excellent service  and the Bosnian proved why he is one of the best target strikers in the world by netting twice in the first half, before slotting home Yaya Toure's cross in the 55th minute to complete his hat-trick before adding an absolutely curling effort in the 93rd minute to complete the rout.

Sergio Aguero continued his brilliant debut season by adding City's fourth in the 59th minute,

Spurs' keeper Brad Friedel's net was constantly under attack. City blasted several good efforts on target throughout the game, but each time the aging American keeper seemed up to the task. Once again, Friedel's performance in the match can't really be faulted, even if he should have done better on Dzeko's second goal. The real problem was the marking in central defense, particularly that of Younes Kaboul who was victimized on each of Dzeko's goals in the first half. Kaboul did manage the only goal for Spurs in the match, but it would have take a couple more for him to redeem himself from the absolute shocker he had at the back.

Despite the return of Luka Modric to the first XI for Spurs the Club had very few ideas in attack. Modric was, by a rather wide margin, the best player on the pitch for Spurs and he was let down horribly be the lack of contributions from his teammates. Peter Crouch, playing alone up top had a couple of good chances, but didn't manage to convert either of them. In the second half, Jermaine Defoe showed up and look bright, cracking a shot from distance barely over the bar minutes after his introduction. 

Luka Modric, playing in what some believe may be his last game in a Tottenham shirt, was substituted for Jake Livermore in the 66th minute. It was following that substitution that Spurs had their best portion of the match. Defoe fired a shot on net, which led to the corner that produced the Kaboul goal. Things went from bad to worse for Spurs in the 74th minute as Rafael van der Vaart, who moments before injured himself stretching for a ball, walked straight down the tunnel. Spurs had already used their three substitutions and as a result were forced to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game.

This match showed exactly what the problems with Tottenham Hotspur are. City's attack, spearheaded by Dzeko may well be the best in the world, excepting Barcalona. City also looked strong at the back and were able to dominate the midfield. Spurs meanwhile lacked ideas in the final third, were poor, at best, at the back and lack a quality holding midfielder. Certainly, Spurs have injury problems, but even at full strength this squad would have a hard time competing against the sheer talent that Manchester City have at their disposal.