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Tottenham Hotspur's woes against Manchester City continue. They played well for around an hour at the Etihad Stadium, but eventually fell apart, finishing on 10 men and losing 4-1.
If anything should be taken away from this match, it's that Sergio Aguero is very good at his job, while Jonathan Moss is not. Aguero's four goals were well deserved, and he was the best player on the pitch by a mile. Meanwhile, Moss gave four (FOUR!!!) penalties, three of which featured serious embellishment on the part of the players who were fouled. His foul calls and other booking decisions were odd throughout the game as well.
Spurs started with surprisingly aggressive tactics, attempting to play a high defensive line and build-up play. This is generally a bad idea at the Etihad Stadium, and really not advisable when your central defenders are Younes Kaboul and Federico Fazio.
It led to Spurs starting strong and getting the first real chance, with Roberto Soldado setting up Ryan Mason with a brilliant through ball before Joe Hart came up with a solid save. City were ahead just five minutes later, with Aguero capitalizing on a turnover by Erik Lamela to score the first of his four goals.
But Spurs hit back instantly, and in impressive fashion. Christian Eriksen netted Spurs' only goal of the day off a great pass from Soldado, powering a shot past Hart that hit the City keeper's leg before ricocheting into the top corner.
Then things got dumb. Lamela was called for the first of the penalties, barging into the back of Frank Lampard, though he didn't make much contact and the City midfield went down pretty easily. Aguero scored from the spot, putting Spurs in a hole. City got another penalty in the 32nd minute -- this one clear cut, with Kaboul sliding through Aguero -- but the Argentine missed from the spot. He was denied his hat trick again just a minute later after beating Kaboul one-on-one on a counter, but Hugo Lloris made an excellent save.
For all of the incorrect penalties Moss gave, he missed the most clear one of the night in the 57th minute. Bacary Sagna clearly blocked an Eriksen shot with his outstretched hand, but Moss didn't spot it and waved play on, despite Spurs' protests.
They got a bit of a make-up call five minutes later when Soldado got tangled up with Martin Demichelis. There was contact, but it occurred well outside the box, and Soldado went down very easily. City will feel like justice was done, though, as Hart stopped Soldado's weak penalty attempt.
A few minutes after that, Spurs were done. Federico Fazio was shown a red card for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity on Aguero for pulling on his shoulder in the box, even though the ball had not yet come within five yards of Aguero when the foul occurred. He converted for his hat trick, and then later went on to score a fourth from open play to add to Spurs' misery.