Tottenham: Four Key Matches That Defined Their Season

1. February 2, 2020, Tottenham knocks off Manchester City

Since Mourinho’s hiring in November, Spurs had won six, drawn two, and lost four league matches. Most importantly, the club had moved from 14th to sixth position in the table and was only six points behind Chelsea for the fourth and last Champions League slot.

Tottenham’s most recent success climbing the Premier League table was completed despite losing their captain Lloris from October to late January, due to injury and losing Harry Kane to another significant leg injury on January 1.

The match was a vintage Mourinho rock star performance on the sideline and the pitch by his charges. He put out a makeshift line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation designed to withstand City’s offensive pressure.

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Manchester City was able to find gaps in the Spurs backline for substantial goal opportunities that they were unable to convert. They had three shots in open play with an xG of 0.56, 0.54, and 0.58, which were all blocked or missed.

Sergio Aguero had a penalty saved in the first half by Lloris, which led to a rebound that ended up on Raheem Sterling‘s foot in the box. The French goalie appeared to take Sterling down with a tackle, but VAR ruled that there was no penalty.

Tottenham’s defense scrambled, chased, and fought for the ball when they could. Lloris made one of his typical deep runs out of his box, leaving the goal wide open, which led to Toby Alderweireld to act as goalkeeper repelling an Aguero clear shot at the target.

Spurs seemed to be energized on offense later in the 2nd half, which eventually led to a beautiful goal by Steven Bergwijn, his first goal for his new club after joining at the end of the January transfer window.

Son scored the second and final goal for the home side sealing Tottenham’s 2-0 win. Mourinho spent the match orchestrating his team and the crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium like an aging rock star performing a greatest hits compilation and letting the crowd sing the lyrics.

At one point, he sat in his chair, devilishly smiling while watching his vision come to life – in victory. It was not beautiful, but in the new Jose Mourinho era at Tottenham, it never needed to be.