Mauricio Pochettino challenged “spirited” Tottenham Hotspur to finish the job after their 1-0 win over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday was marred by Harry Kane’s potentially season-ending injury.
Pochettino’s side earned a slender first-leg advantage thanks to a clinical strike from South Korea forward Son Heung-min late in the second half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Much-maligned Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris also enjoyed a sweet moment of redemption in a troubled campaign when he saved Sergio Aguero’s first-half spot-kick.
Photo: AFP
Pochettino was delighted with Tottenham’s display against the Premier League champions, but he insisted that the tie was still delicately poised.
“We showed great quality. We were all excited and motivated to play this type of game,” Pochettino said.
“The energy was good, fantastic, and the penalty save gave us a big lift,” he said. “There are still 90 minutes to play and it’s Manchester City, but with the spirit we play, anything is possible.”
Tottenham’s victory was an unexpected twist after Kane injured his left ankle in a tackle on Fabian Delph early in the second half.
Kane was yesterday to have tests performed on the injury, but Tottenham boss Pochettino feared that his star striker could miss the rest of the campaign.
“It is very sad and very disappointing. We are going to miss him — maybe for the rest of the season,” Pochettino said.
“It is a worry for us. We hope it is not a big issue, but there is not to much time to recover. He twisted his ankle,” he added.
City had only themselves to blame for failing to earn an advantage for the second leg in Manchester on Wednesday next week.
Having won the EFL Cup, reached the FA Cup final and kept the destiny of the Premier League title in their own hands, this was City’s next hurdle in the race for an unprecedented quadruple.
However, City boss Pep Guardiola was adamant that it is “almost impossible” to achieve a clean sweep of all four major trophies.
He might be right on the evidence of a City display that lacked the cutting edge and intensity required to keep Tottenham at bay.
City’s first defeat since a Jan. 29 setback at Newcastle United is not fatal to their European ambitions, but they will have to improve on the tired effort to stop Tottenham from reaching their first European semi-final since 1984.
“Nobody said it would be easy. We have to show what we can do in the next game,” Guardiola said. “We were more in control, the second half we didn’t really concede anything.”
“It was a good performance, but that’s the Champions League,” Guardiola added. “We lost, we have the second game and we will see what happens.”
If Guardiola was concerned about subduing Tottenham and the boisterous crowd in their new stadium, his side were handed a golden opportunity in the 12th minute.
Raheem Sterling cut in from the left and left three Tottenham defenders in his wake before unleashing a shot that struck Danny Rose’s raised arm as the Tottenham leftback slid in to block.
There were no penalty appeals from City, but after consulting the video assistant referee, Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers awarded the spot-kick.
However, Lloris plunged to his left to keep out Aguero’s penalty with a superb save.
Kane was embroiled in a physical battle with City’s defense, but his attempt to fight fire with fire proved his downfall in the 55th minute.
Crunching into a late challenge on Delph on the touchline, Kane appeared to twist his ankle before immediately signaling that he would have to come off.
The sight of the England captain, who has scored 24 times this season, limping badly down the tunnel could have been fatal for Tottenham.
Yet, they thrived earlier this season when Kane was absent for seven matches with left-ankle ligament damage.
They once again they rose to the challenge to snatch the lead in the 78th minute.
When Son beat the City offside trap, it appeared his touch was too heavy to take advantage.
However, he alertly kept the ball in play, taking advantage of Delph’s pause to protest the decision by slamming a low drive under Ederson from close range.
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