HOW DID DIRTY DELE ESCAPE A RED CARD AT THE ETIHAD?
Spurs ace takes out frustration on City players but somehow escapes red card
DELE ALLI has gone backwards since being hailed as the man most likely to be English football’s first £100million player. That joyous Champions League defeat of Real Madrid at Wembley last month when he scored twice already feels like a distant memory.
Alli’s poor form and lack of goals are symptomatic of this Tottenham team. A third consecutive Premier League title challenge is crumbling and even a top-four finish looks ambitious at the moment.
At Manchester City last night, dirty Dele turned up rather than delicious Dele. The 21-year-old midfielder grew frustrated at chasing shadows as Tottenham were outplayed.
He could easily have been booked in the first half for bad fouls on Ilkay Gundogan and Sergio Aguero. And when he trod on Kevin De Bruyne midway through the second half to finally receive a caution from Craig Pawson, it could have been a straight red. Former referee Graham Poll thought the challenge on the Belgian was worthy of a dismissal.
‘It was a dangerous action,’ added City boss Pep Guardiola.
Let’s get things into perspective. Alli is still a young player and it took Mauricio Pochettino’s players a long time to work out his formation yesterday, whereas Manchester City looked like a well-oiled machine.
City’s players knew their jobs, even without David Silva.
It is inconceivable that Alli will be left out of England’s team at the World Cup next summer, despite going nine games without scoring. He was dropped for Tottenham’s midweek victory over Brighton but if that was meant to provide a kick up the backside to get him in the mood for City, it did not work. Guardiola’s musketeers hardly gave Alli a sniff of the ball and, as they played around him, you could see the pressure mounting on his shoulders — all that talk of new agents, moving to Spain and whether Spurs pay him enough.
He did not cover himself in glory for either of City’s first two goals. After 14 minutes, when Leroy Sane swung over a corner, Alli ran to the near post and watched the ball sail over his head, allowing Gundogan to nip in and nod home.
His challenge that poleaxed De Bruyne and left the City player needing treatment also backfired. The Belgian got up off the turf and was fired up enough to rifle home City’s second goal soon after.
There is a question about whether Spurs have big enough ambitions to keep Alli. Though you could not see Real Madrid or Barcelona being interested in him on the evidence of yesterday’s showing, you could easily understand why he might be disillusioned in a team thrashed 4-1 at City. Alli has seen his role in the side changed regularly this season. Last night he was deployed in the middle of the pitch, more advanced than Mousa Dembele and Harry Winks but deeper than Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. It could be classified as a false No 10 and in theory should have suited Alli’s athleticism and ability to run into the box from deep positions. In reality, he was regularly caught in no-man’s land as City passed too quickly and pressed too frenetically for their visitors to handle. If Alli was deep, the ball was ahead of him. If he went forward, the ball went to the other end. He barely had any impact, which is perhaps why he threw himself into challenges that had little prospect of winning the ball. The service was also dismally poor. Kieran Trippier’s intended pass to feet was five yards off target. Kane’s cross, when Alli made a rare foray into the penalty area, was five yards too high.
When Alli got on the ball, he sent a pass with the outside of his boot straight to Kyle Walker, a former team-mate now lording it over Spurs at the Etihad.
His one half-chance in the box was snuffed out quickly as City goalkeeper Ederson came out strongly to claim the ball, leaving Alli in a heap.
The fuming Spurs player charged back up the other end and kicked Aguero. It seemed he had kicked City players as many times as he had kicked the ball and Alli was put out of his misery when he was replaced after 84 minutes.
It summed up his night and his season so far. Pochettino and England boss Gareth Southgate will hope this is a blip rather than a long-term malaise.