Manchester City 3 Tottenham 2: Mario Balotelli makes Spurs pay

22 January 2012 15:56
Mario Balotelli's injury-time penalty saw Manchester City edge a five-goal thriller with Tottenham.[LNB]But there could be a nasty sting in the tail for the Italian after he seemed to catch Scott Parker in the face with a needless kick.[LNB]Not that any disciplinary problems will bother City's supporters as they celebrated what could be a priceless victory in the title race.[LNB] Winner: Mario Balotelli fires home a late penalty to earn Manchester City all three points against Tottenham[LNB]MATCH FACTSMan City: Hart, Richards, Savic, Lescott, Clichy, Barry, Milner, Silva, Aguero, Nasri, Dzeko (Balotelli, 65)[LNB]Subs not used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Johnson, Kolarov, Onuoha, De Jong[LNB]Goals: Nasri 56, Lescott 59, Balotelli 90+5 (pen)[LNB]Booked: Clichy, Balotelli, Parker[LNB]Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Pienaar, 88), Parker, Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart (Livermore 67), Defoe. [LNB]Subs not used: Cudicini, Pavlyuchenko, Bassong, Dawson, Kranjcar.[LNB]Goals: Defoe 60, Bale 65[LNB]Booked: Parker[LNB]Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)[LNB]After a goalless first half, the Blues were in control when Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott struck.[LNB]But Jermain Defoe profited from Stefan Savic's mistake almost immediately before Gareth Bale levelled with a magnificent curling shot.[LNB]Spurs seemed more likely winners after that.[LNB]But when Defoe could only turn an injury-time Bale cross narrowly wide as he slid in at the far-post, it gave Balotelli a chance to win the match after he had been fouled by Ledley King.[LNB]It maintained City's 100 per cent home record this season and piles the pressure on their rivals, who are all playing catch-up.[LNB]Knowing they would be eight points behind if they lost and with personal knowledge of the havoc City are capable of causing following that humiliating 5-1 defeat in August, Tottenham had good cause to make it a tight affair.[LNB]Bale threatened on a couple of occasions, and should have made more of the position he found himself in when he checked inside James Milner's sliding tackle.[LNB]Fan-tastic: Manchester City supporters celebrated Samir Nasri's goal with the Poznan[LNB] But Tottenham did not force Joe Hart into a meaningful save in the opening 45 minutes, Scott Parker and Younes Kaboul both firing well wide with long-range efforts.[LNB]It took City some time to get going, and even then they were only a sporadic threat.[LNB]However, in Sergio Aguero they had the game's most obvious first goalscorer.[LNB]Net gain: Defender Joleon Lescott bundled the ball over the line for City's second goal[LNB] The club record ?38million front-man has looked tired in recent games as he attempted to shoulder the goalscoring burden. Here though, he excelled.[LNB]Having had Edin Dzeko nick the ball off his foot when he was lining up a shot at Wigan on Monday, the South American must have been dismayed when the same team-mate got in the way of his efforts to turn home David Silva's cutback.[LNB]Aguero's best opportunity came not long afterwards.

Source: Daily_Mail