Manchester City 3 Tottenham 0: Stones, Sterling and Diaz score in dominant ICC victory
Manchester City produced a dominant display in their 3-0 win over Tottenham at the International Champions Cup on Saturday.
Flying high after their 4-1 rout of Spanish and European champions Real Madrid, City were a class above in Nashville as John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Brahim Daz fired Pep Guardiola’s men to a comprehensive victory.
Jones scored against Madrid last time out and the England international defender was at it again, breaking the deadlock with a glancing header in the 10th minute.
Tottenham struggled to contain City throughout at Nissan Stadium and Sterling sealed the win 18 minutes from the end after being put through on a one-v-one situation.
And youngster Diaz came off the bench and capped the scoring in the second minute of stoppage time as Kyle Walker enjoyed a winning reunion against former club Spurs following his lucrative move to the Etihad Stadium earlier this month.
It could have been more for City after substitute Sergio Aguero hit the post twice in the second half, while Gabriel Jesus sprayed a shot wide from directly in front on the stroke of half-time.
Both sides named strong XIs for the all-Premier League clash in Tennessee. Guardiola selected Ederson, Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi, Danilo, Stones, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Sterling, Jesus and Walker in City’s line-up.
Beaten 3-2 by Roma on Tuesday, Tottenham included Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Christian Eriksen, Moussa Dembele, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Hugo Lloris in their starting side.
And Spurs had the first real chance of the match in the third minute, when Alli was released on goal but goalkeeper Ederson was quick off his line to smother the ball.
City then slowly took control of proceedings, eventually opening the scoring through Stones seven minutes later.
After setting up three goals against Madrid, assist master De Bruyne was at it again, his teasing free-kick from the right finding its way to Stones, who stooped low to glance a header past Lloris.
Lloris was kept busy throughout the remainder of the first half as Jesus, De Bruyne and Danilo had sights on goal.
Impressing on the right flank, Walker whipped in a delightful cross which almost picked out an outstretched Jesus in the penalty area.
Jesus was then guilty of wasting a guilt-edged opportunity as City somehow managed to only take a one-goal lead into half-time after some unselfish play from De Bruyne.
Spurs were dispossessed and caught out of position as De Bruyne took the ball and squared a pass to Jesus, who miraculously spayed his shot well wide from directly in front of goal.
City continued to control proceedings in the second half, with Aguero almost making it 2-0 just past the hour-mark but Michel Worm saved well before the Argentina international struck the post a minute later.
Tottenham survived again as Aguero hit the woodwork – a certain goal at his mercy after cutting through Spurs’ defence with ease.
City did get a deserved second goal as Sterling sprung the offside trap and finished past Worm with 18 minutes remaining.
Kane and Eriksen were kept quiet, though the latter managed to register a shot on goal but it was from long range, summing up Tottenham’s performance, while Vincent Janssen was denied late.
City substitute Diaz added to his stunner against Madrid with a 92nd-minute goal following a goalmouth scramble, making it 3-0 which provided an accurate reflection of the one-sided display.
