Guardiola praise for Kane as City suffer title stumble

Pep Guardiola once labelled Tottenham Hotspur “the Harry Kane team” and the Spaniard was left marvelling at the striker as his two goals loosened Manchester City’s grip on the Premier League title race on Saturday.

England skipper Kane, whose hoped-for move to City last summer fell through, gave Tottenham a 59th-minute lead and then struck deep into stoppage time to earn his side a 3-2 win.

It was only City’s third league defeat of the season but their second to Tottenham who won the reverse fixture on the opening day of the season when Kane played no part.

The champions now have only a six-point lead over Liverpool, who have a game in hand. Juergen Klopp’s men visit the Etihad in April.

City had 72% possession against Tottenham and Guardiola praised his side’s display, but they could not contain Kane and Son Heung-min who combined superbly throughout the contest.

“It was a good game. We tried through many sides, especially down the left. It is difficult, they defend so narrowly,” Guardiola said.

“Tottenham have a lot of quality, really good up front. In the first half they have the goal and no more.

“In the second half they have one attack with Harry Kane at the start and they score. They are clinical. They have Kane, Son and [Dejan] Kulusevski. We could not defend their crosses.”

On another day City may have won by a handsome margin, but once again Tottenham proved a tricky obstacle for City — reviving memories of their Champions League quarterfinal aggregate win in 2019.

Guardiola has steadfastly refused to get drawn into talk of City having the title race in the bag, even when they opened up a 12-point lead at the top over Liverpool.

And he was not panicking on Saturday as his side suffered their first defeat in the league since October, when they were stunned by Crystal Palace at the Etihad, after which they picked up 43 points from a possible 45.

“I said a few weeks ago we need to win many games,” Guardiola said. “Every game will be a big battle. We knew after three defeats Tottenham would be back.”

Meanwhile, on the day Mohamed Salah scored his 150th goal for Liverpool in a 3-1 win over Norwich City, new signing Luis Diaz registered the first of what manager Klopp hopes will be many.

The Colombian who joined from Porto at the end of January, scored with 10 minutes left to kill off a plucky Norwich, dinking a superb finish from Jordan Henderson’s through pass.

While Egyptian talisman Salah, who only trails Roger Hunt in the number of games needed to reach 150, and Sadio Mane’s overhead kick goal grabbed the headlines, Diaz could be a crucial figure in the title race, especially with Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino injured.

Klopp has almost run out of superlatives for Salah and was asked afterwards about the forward’s goal haul and some of his favourites from the collection.

“Today was a really cheeky one to be honest,” Klopp said. “I remember the Chelsea goal where he cut inside and thunderbolt in the far corner, a few of the dribbling ones, against City and Watford. The United goal I like a lot.

“I can’t remember all 150 but I can remember a lot. There were some good goals. The first one at Watford, that was maybe the easiest goal he scored since he was here.

“Nobody could expect on that day when he scored at Watford, in this period of time, it would be possible for him to score 149 more. Really special.”

Klopp also reserved praise for Diaz.

“The two games Luis has came on or played he has been absolutely incredible. He’s just an outstanding talent, really good player.”

 Reuters