Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League Hopes Alive After Manchester City Win

There was no other outcome that would have pleased the faithful at White Hart Lane more than a victory over Manchester City.

Fans of Tottenham Hotspur got just that and more as Spurs climbed back into the top four race with a 3-1 victory at home over City.

After a first half that was chock-full of City domination, the Champions League dream of Tottenham looked bleak at best. But, then Andre Villas-Boas altered his squad and suddenly the light-switch turned on in North London.

Lewis Holtby, Tom Huddlestone and Jermain Defoe were all introduced to the match within a 10-minute timespan in the second half and four minutes after Defoe made his way onto the pitch to replace Emmanuel Adebayor, the crowd at White Hart Lane erupted in celebration.

First came the Gareth Bale pass to Clint Dempsey that froze the City defense on Spurs’ first goal in the 75th minute. Afterward, a Tottenham onslaught sent the hosts back into the rear-view mirrors of now-nervy Chelsea and Arsenal.

Defoe and Bale would follow with goals in the 79th and 82nd minutes to finish off second-placed City and all of a sudden a dream that seemed out of reach became a reality once more. Spurs will now get two weeks to prepare for Chelsea and maintain their ground in the table with very winnable matches against Wigan and Southampton.

But, every Spurs fan in the world will admit that May 8 has been circled on the calendar as the match of the season; a match with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that may be celebrated more than a North London Derby win if AVB and company pull of a victory that day.

After Chelsea, a match at struggling Stoke and a home date with Sunderland await. But, if Spurs can handle their business against four clubs from the bottom half of the table, all they will need is a win over Chelsea and they could be dreaming big once again in Europe’s premier club competition.

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