Haaland scores on return as Man City beat Spurs to re-enter top four

Erling Haaland marked his return from injury with the only goal of the game as Manchester City secured a crucial 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday (IST), boosting their chances of a top-four Premier League finish.

Following their defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, City had slipped 20 points behind the league leaders. Chelsea’s 4-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday had also pushed them out of the top four. However, Pep Guardiola’s side responded strongly, dominating the first half in north London. Their efforts paid off when Haaland tapped in his 20th Premier League goal of the season.

With this feat, Haaland became just the second player in history to score 20+ goals in each of his first three Premier League campaigns, joining Ruud van Nistelrooy (2001/02 to 2003/04).

Haaland thought he had doubled City’s lead in the dying moments, but his second goal was ruled out for handball. City created several chances in the first half but had to fight hard to keep a clean sheet as Spurs improved in the second half.

The victory moves City back into the Premier League’s top four with 11 games left in the season, while Tottenham remain 13th with 33 points.

“We were better in the first half, they were better in the second. We should have closed the game earlier, but it was a very important result for Champions League qualification,” Guardiola said.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou admitted his side struggled in the opening half but improved later. “We created chances but were wasteful with the ball. In the second half, we dominated but just lacked a goal to take something from the game,” he said.