A look at Europe | Tottenham relaunches the Premier League

Throughout the season, The Press offers a weekly round-up of the biggest moments on the European soccer scene

Jean-Francois Teotonio
The Press

THE GAME

Realism. Address. Resilience. Quickness of mind and execution. So many terms to describe the performance offered by Tottenham on the lawn of Manchester City on Saturday.

Antonio Conte’s men went for a remarkable 3-2 victory at the Etihad. They can particularly thank the brilliance of Harry Kane, as well as his lethal association with Heung-min Son. But above all, above all, we must salute the defensive determination on the ramparts of the Spurs.

Dejan Kulusevski, in his first Premier League game with Tottenham, scored in the fourth minute against the run of play. Like all the visitors’ goals, by the way.

Because Manchester City were showing such dominance with the ball, there was hardly any scenario in which Pep Guardiola’s players weren’t going to end up finding the breach.

They found her at the 33^and, courtesy of Ilkay Gündoğan. It was 1-1. With the pressure displayed by City, we thought that the valves were now open.

But it was wrong to judge the effectiveness of Spurs’ counter-attacks.

In the second half, when Tottenham regained the ball, we moved forward quickly. The passes were as precise as the work of a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, to use CBC bobsled analyst Nils Oliveto’s metaphor.

At the 59^and, on one such occasion, Son crossed for Kane in the box. Playing the offside line to perfection, the Spurs gunner hit the mark on reception, 2-1 Tottenham. The two men thus became the most prolific pair in Premier League history, tied with Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Not bad.

City keep pushing. Tottenham continue to defend. Kane is denied a goal, the VAR has detected an offside. Riyad Mahrez equalizes for the Mancunians in the 92^and minute, on penalty awarded by the VAR. Let’s note the beautiful evening of work of the officials on the video, moreover. Quick and fair decisions.

Except that the surprise might not show up after all.

Ah, well, the Spurs are attacking in the 95^and. Oh, what a nice through pass from the right from Rodrigo Bentancur to Kulusevski, the two new arrivals at Tottenham. Hey, that cross to Kane looks great… Goal. Harry. Kane. Of the head. He even made Peter Drury, the English commentator emeritus, lose his voice.

The Premier League is revived. If Liverpool manage to win their game in hand, they would be just three points behind the Citizens.

For Tottenham, these three points are crucial in the hunt for top 4, which is still a long way off. The Londoners are six points clear of Manchester United’s Red Devils.

THE GOAL

There is distance. The target after all is restricted, all things considered. Then there is the audacity to take the shot. From 40 meters.

It was the 59^and minute, and Luis Suárez had little to lose when he saw Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera wide in front of his net. So why not ?

Note also the fine pass from the Portuguese João Félix, from his own penalty area.

This goal made it 2-0 for Atlético, who would eventually win 3-0. The Colchoneros end the week in fifth place in La Liga, with the same number of points as FC Barcelona, ​​​​ie 42. The two rivals are having a great battle for the Champions League places.

Real dominates meanwhile still in the lead, with 57 points.

THE PERFORMANCE

Not an ordinary day at work for Marco Reus with Borussia Dortmund. Two goals, three assists. He was involved in five (5!) goals for his side, who planted six against Borussia Mönchengladbach at home.

He grabbed a comeback at the 26^and to put on his first. He offered a magnificent service from the center circle towards Donyall Malen, who came towards the opposing goal on a breakaway. 2-0 at the 32^and.

At the 70^and, he skilfully passed towards Marius Wolf in the box. 3-0. Four minutes later, he did the same for Youssoufa Moukoko. 4-0. Then he put on his second at the 81^andas in saying to oneself: “gift from me to me”.

This convincing victory will be good for the morale of BVB, who suffered a bitter 4-2 defeat against Glasgow Rangers last Thursday in the Europa League.

Dortmund (49 points) remains 6 units behind Bayern Munich, which has 55.

THE STORY

But what fly stung FC Nantes on Saturday?

At half-time, the Nantes steamroller – ah good? – led 3-0 against the star constellation of Paris Saint-Germain. The team of Neymar, Messi and Mbappé was in disarray. PSG finally lost 3-1.

The story of this match is Nantes goalkeeper Alban Lafont. He was in a state of grace. We had the impression that he had the tentacles of an octopus, so he managed to join all the balloons projected towards him. Sometimes he frustrated Lionel Messi. Then Kylian Mbappé. Then Messi again. Before stopping Neymar. All this in the first half.

Lafont even had the affront of blocking a penalty from the Brazilian in the second period. It must be said that his attempt was of an almost unprecedented softness. Surely your neighborhood park striker would have done better.

Nine stops, therefore, for Alban Lafont. The porter, who has French and Burkinabe nationality, is already in his seventh professional season. He is only 23 years old. We bet that we will see him in the near future as a relief to Hugo Lloris in the France team.

FC Nantes, seventh, is thus getting closer to European places. At 38 points, he is only two behind Rennes, in fifth position.