Superb Solanke secures gutsy point at home to City

Dominic Solanke scored a stunning acrobatic equaliser as we fought back to force a draw against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

After a lacklustre first period in which Rayan Cherki had given Pep Guardiola’s side an early lead before Antoine Semenyo doubled their advantage just before the interval, it looked like City were heading towards a third straight Premier League win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But it was a completely different story after the break as we took the game to the visitors, pulling one back when Solanke forced Marc Guehi into an own goal. The England international then produced a moment of pure magic, scoring for the third time in four games with a spectacular scorpion kick to level the scores and give us a vital point.

Team news saw Radu Dragusin come in for his first start for 372 days since a 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City in January, 2025, as we made four changes from the midweek win at Eintracht Frankfurt, alongside Yves Bissouma, Conor Gallagher and Solanke. Kevin Danso, Djed Spence, Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert made way.

City were on the front foot from the off and two minutes in, Semenyo had a side-footed effort which Guglielmo Vicario gathered at the second attempt. We had a good spell of possession after that, albeit without troubling Gianluigi Donnarumma and, instead, it was the visitors who took the lead on 11 minutes, Bernardo Silva dispossessing Bissouma to allow Erling Haaland to find Cherki and his clinical right-foot angled drive beat the dive of Vicario and hit the bottom corner.

Seven minutes later, Marc Guehi lifted a ball over the top for Haaland, who got the better of Dragusin but his attempted lob landed on the roof of the net. Shortly after, our first effort at goal saw a Xavi Simons 20-yard free-kick hit the wall before Donnarumma gathered, while Cherki went on a run down the inside right at the other end and hit a fierce drive which was heading for the top corner until the merest of touches from Vicario sent it wide, an excellent save even if a goal-kick was awarded!

Both sides were moving the ball well into the attacking areas of the pitch but that was where moves were breaking down as final passes were lacking or shots not being taken. Xavi had one such opportunity in the 36th minute but his effort was blocked. City’s second came three minutes before the break, Dragusin playing a ball out from the right-back position which was picked up by Rodri, he played forward to Bernardo who laid off to Semenyo and he produced a confident finish past Vicario. The half concluded with another Xavi free-kick, this one more central and this time he beat the wall but it was straight at Donnarumma.

We needed a quick response at the start of the second period and had an early opportunity when Destiny Udogie’s cross was cleared as far as Gallagher but he couldn’t keep his shot down from the edge of the area. An even better chance followed, a driving run down the right from Archie Gray ending with Xavi laying the ball off to Udogie in the area but his fierce drive was superbly tipped over by Donnarumma. It was a great start to the half and was rewarded with the goal, Xavi finding Solanke in the area and his hold-up play was excellent, shrugging off Abdukodir Khusanov and touching the ball goalwards, with it coming off Guehi and crossing the line to get us back in the game.

The goal changed the whole dynamic of the game and suddenly, having looked pretty deflated coming off at half-time, we were right in the contest. The players were up for the fight and the fans engaged again, even more so after our stunning equaliser. Gallagher did really well, winning the ball and driving down the right before sending over a cross which Solanke met with a back-flick scorpion kick that looped over Donnarumma and into the net.

City were rocked, we were rampant and they needed their Italian goalkeeper to prevent them from falling behind as he made two fantastic saves in quick succession. The first was with his legs to keep out Odobert’s deflected effort at the end of a rapid counter and the second was incredible, a diving one-handed tip over the bar from Xavi’s curling effort on 75 minutes.

The closing stages saw both teams with chances to win the game. An almighty goalmouth scramble ended with Haaland scooping the ball just over the bar from close range before Tijjani Reijnders headed into the side-netting. At the other end, Xavi won the ball back down the left and drove into the area, his low cross was prodded goalwards by Wilson Odobert but Donnarumma was there again to deny us.

At the start of nine minutes of stoppage time, there was a Premier League debut for Jun’ai Byfield who came on for the final stages after his two recent appearances in the Champions League, but there were no further goals and we settled for a point which had seemed a long way off at half-time.

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Guehi (OG) 53, Solanke 70; City – Cherki 11, Semenyo 44.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Bissouma, Xavi, Solanke; City – Khusanov, Rodri, Nico.

Referee: Robert Jones.

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Weather: Light rain, light winds, nine degrees.

Attendance: 61,337.