5 Times Tottenham Failed Themselves After Losing to Manchester City to Let Arsenal Down

• Tottenham lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City to help the Citizens reclaim the top
• The win ended Spurs' Champions League hopes and dented Arsenal’s title dreams
• Rival fans celebrated Arsenal’s possible demise and Spurs sabotaged themselves

Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City helped the Citizens climb to the top of the Premier League table, and complicated Arsenal’s title hopes going into the final day.

The Gunners were reliant on their North London rivals' getting at least a point against the reigning champions on the last matchday to put them in the driving seat for the title.

Rival fans paid attention to Arsenal having a difficult but not impossible journey to the title and ignored Spurs sabotaging themselves and their European adventure.

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Sports Brief looks at five times Tottenham let themselves down after failing the Gunners yesterday.

Five times Tottenham failed themselves

1. European qualification hopes dashed

Spurs could have taken the last spot for the UEFA Champions League places in the English top flight to the last day if they had beaten City. Their loss confirmed Aston Villa as the fourth team. In a complicated but not impossible scenario, they could be out of Europe entirely next season.

If Newcastle and Chelsea occupy fifth and sixth place and Spurs finish seventh, they'll drop to the Europa Conference League spot, which could be taken away if Manchester United win the FA Cup.

2. Sacking Jose Mourinho before a final

The North Londoners have been on a trophy drought since 2008 when they beat Chelsea 2-1 to win the Capital One Cup. They lost two finals after that, and when Jose Mourinho guided them to the League Cup final in 2021 against City, with a real chance of winning, they sacked him days before.

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Until then, the Special One had lost three finals out of 20 in his career and, per SportBible, was the only manager to have beaten Pep Guardiola in a final at that time, during their time at Barcelona.

3. 2019 Champions League final

Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham defied all odds to reach the 2019 Champions League final. They beat Man City in a tense quarter-final before coming from behind to beat Ajax in the semi-final. They faced Liverpool and produced one of the worst finals ever.

The match was over before it even started. Moussa Sissoko conceded a penalty in the 22nd seconds, which Mohamed Salah converted. The rest of the game was uneventful as Jurgen Klopp won his first UCL title.

4. 2016 Premier League title race

Leicester City did the unthinkable in 2015/16 and won the Premier League title. They were in the race with Tottenham, and on paper, Spurs were the better side. They had the opportunity to win the title while the big clubs were having an average season.

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They capitulated, and it all ended when they drew 2-2 against Chelsea despite going 2-0 up. Eden Hazard scored the equaliser in a chaotic match.

5. 'Lasagne Gate'

In the 2005/06 season, Spurs headed into the final matchday with an opportunity to finish ahead of Arsenal and qualify for the UCL. According to Sky Sports, a day before, the team suffered food poisoning after eating lasagne and had to play with a depleted squad. They lost to West Ham United, while the Gunners beat Wigan Athletic.

Fans slam Son Heung-min

Sports Brief reported Arsenal fans slamming Son Heung-min for his miss during Tottenham's 2-0 home loss to Man City last night, which influenced the title race.

A win for Spurs would have been to their North London rivals, Arsenal’s advantage and would have also kept their hopes for UCL competition next season alive.