Tottenham Hotspur’s impressive opening 45 at White Hart Lane has been thwarted by Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper starting over lat year’s first choice, Shay Given. The England international made dramatic saves on Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Gareth Bale, Peter Crouch, and Jermain Defoe to keep the match drawn nil-nil at halftime.
Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester City: Joe Hart Gets City To Halftime Scoreless
Spurs spent most of the half without the ball but were able to quickly get into attack with the passing of central midfielders Luka Modric and Tom Huddlestone getting the ball wide to Gareth Bale, with Manchester City finding no answers for the Welsh starlet. Tottenham would outshot City 5-1 (shots on goal) in the first half.
While City has held 60 percent of the possession, Roberto Mancini’s 4-5-1 has led to a lack of strength in their attacking third. Carlos Tévez has started alone at forward, with David Silva and Shaun Wright-Phillips in wide positions.
But the story of the first half was Hart. His start over Given was a mild surprise, but Mancini’s decision and the young `keeper’s play is the only thing that’s kept the Citizens in the match.
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