Match date: 21 April 2013

Andre Villas-Boas had a few decisions to make coming into the match; Gareth Bale was just returning from injury, Aaron Lennon was out, and Jermain Defoe and Adebayor were both in contention. In the end, Villas-Boas opted to start Bale through the middle with Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson on either side of him with Adebayor as the lone forward in a 4-2-3-1.

Roberto Mancini was without Aguero and Silva, so started Edin Dzeko at striker with Tevez just in behind him in City’s own 4-2-3-1.

Little Width

Both sides set out in a 4-2-3-1 with both sides having wide players that liked to cut inside. City had more balance in their attack though; Nasri likes to come inside, but Gael Clichy is an attack minded full back so provided the width. On the the right side, James Milner can come inside, but likes to take on his opposing full back and get to the byline which works well for City as he usually has a decent cross, one of Zabaleta’s weaknesses.

Tottenham, however, had Dempsey and Sigurdsson on either side of Bale, who was playing through the middle just behind Adebayor. Clint Dempsey had a lot of success with Fulham coming in from the left side, but  has mostly played through the middle for Tottenham this season, rarely featuring on the right where he played for most of this match. When Tottenham attacked, Dempsey liked to pinch inside, as did Sigurdsson on the left hand side. But their tendency to come inside was more of a problem because neither Walker or Assou-Ekotto got forward well enough to provided any sort of width and it also allowed City to defend very narrow, making it hard for both Bale and Adebayor (who really didn’t look like he wanted much of the ball) to get on the ball high up the pitch.

Tevez

While Bale was being crowded out by City’s defenders as well as his own players, Tevez was finding an incredible amount of space between Tottenham’s midfield and defense. As he did in the Manchester derby, Tevez excels in finding the space in the channels and between the lines, on that day he found a lot of space on the left side, dropping deep from his centre forward position, today he was able to find that freedom on both sides of the pitch, a notable run being just before City’s goal when he found space down the right, turned away from Assou-Ekotto, Vertonghen, and Sigurdsson and played that “delicious” pass to Milner to set up Nasri’s goal. In the first half, he created 3 chances as Scott Parker, not really know mark players well, found it difficult to find Tevez, especially with Yaya Toure getting forward well from a deep position.

Villas-Boas Changes the Game

Villas-Boas started the second half the same way and they continued to lack any sort of threat to City’s defense. He switched Dempsey to the middle and brought Bale out to the right hand side so that the latter could try to find more space to run at City’s defense, which he was able to do, but had to go deep to receive the ball as Mancini had to bring on Kolarov on at half time for an injured Milner, switching Nasri to the right side.

Tottenham were still losing the game in midfield as Barry and Toure were able to get the better of Parker and Dembele, which are very similar pairings; Barry and Parker are both English, defensive midfielders and Toure and Dembele are both strong, athletic central midfielders that make powerful runs forward. AVB first brought of Lewis Holtby and Tom Huddlestone for Scott Parker and Gylfi Sigurdsson and with this Villas-Boas changed Tottenham’s system from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 (with Defoe), which looked like this:

With Huddlestone, who misplaced just one pass while on the pitch, as the lone holding midfielder, Dembele was able to get forward with much more intent as did Holtby. The change also allowed Bale to play higher up the pitch, just as high as Adebayor and Defore when he came on. The change in the system was important as it  allowed Tottenham to have a three man midfield against Barry and Toure, minimizing Toure’s ability to get forward and not allowing Tevez to receive the ball, but bringing on Defore for Adebayor was equally as important as the system change.

Up until that point, Adebayor had been very poor, almost hiding behind City’s defenders at times, so the introduction of Defoe was always going to come, but as Adebayor would have to come deep to receive the ball and could act as a target man, Defoe was much more capable at working the channels, as he did for his goal (Tottenham’s second) when he received the ball on the left hand side of Tottenham’s attack after pulling off Kompany and getting onto a ball from Holtby before coming inside and finishing very well past Hart.

Conclusion

Villas-Boas decision to change Tottenham from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 won Spurs the game and helped continue their push in the fight for a Champions League spot. The 4-3-3 was Villas-Boas favoured system while he was at Porto, famed for their pace and directness under his management and it was these two things that helped Tottenham win the match. The goals from Defoe and Bale were the direct result of the change in formation and their pace to get in behind City’s defense, especially Bale’s goal.

Roberto Mancini failed to react after the first goal and then the second and it was only after Tottenham scored the third, just seven minutes after scoring their first, that he decided to bring on Scott Sinclair for Edin Dzeko and so City, though their fate has really been sealed for a bit, are surely out of any glimpse of a title race.