Spurs 2-2 Man City | Thomas Frank’s verdict | OneFootball

Thomas Frank described our second half performance as ‘one moment at a time, one minute at a time’ as we came back from 2-0 down to secure a 2-2 draw against Manchester City on Sunday.

City took the initiative in the first half of the Premier League encounter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with goals from Rayan Cherki (11 minutes) and Antoine Semenyo (44) handing Pep Guardiola’s team a 2-0 lead at half-time.

Already without 11 players due to injury – including late the withdrawals of Kevin Danso and Djed Spence – we then lost skipper Cuti Romero, struggling with illness, at half-time. Yet the players dug in. Joao Palhinha joined Radu Dragusin – his first Premier League start in over a year – in central defence, Archie Gray relocated to right/wing-back.

As Xavi Simons’ influence increased, the tide started to turn on 53 minutes when Dominic Solanke managed to poke the ball home after a tangle with Marc Guehi.

The best was to follow, however, as Solanke delivered one of the best goals seen in the stadium.

Conor Gallagher made a 50-50 challenge his and delivered a cross that the striker connected with a ‘scorpion kick’ from behind him, the ball looping over Gianluigi Donnarumma and home. Donnarumma then denied Wilson Odobert and tipped over a Xavi special as we pushed for a winner.

Speaking to us afterwards, Thomas reflected: “I’m very proud of the players, the character and mentality they showed, especially in the second half. I think that was hugely impressive.

“Of course, we are 2-0 down to City, who are in a good place, the best team in the Premier League the last seven, eight years, but the way the players kept going in the second half, kept having the belief… we were a bit better in the high pressure, we adjusted that second half. The middle pressure was also better, so they couldn't get anyone through, and we played a little bit more behind them.

“We just showed a bit more personality. That character and mentality… I'm so happy that the players finally got something out of it, because I just think we showed that second half against West Ham, second half against Villa, second half against Bournemouth, and lost all three. We should have got more out of them. Now we've got results on top of that to build on three other good performances. We’ve built on something that's hugely important.

“I think it (the comeback) shows everything for the players. The fans should be so proud of the players, what a shift they showed today. Now we've got something out of it, something to build on - and we need to carry on.”