Gary Neville spoke to a Tottenham coach before kick-off (Pictures: Getty/Sky Sports)
Gary Neville has revealed what a Tottenham coach told him about the Spurs team talk before they were beaten by Manchester City in a devastating result for north London rivals Arsenal.
Man City battled to a 2-0 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday night, meaning the title is in their hands ahead of the final day of the season.
Pep Guardiola’s side will win a record fourth consecutive Premier League title if they beat West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Arsenal fans would have been keeping a close eye on events in north London as a draw or home win would have vastly improved their chances of becoming league champions for the first time since 2004.
But Erling Haaland scored shortly after half-time to break the deadlock before his injury-time penalty put Manchester City’s tense win to bed against a Tottenham side who wasted numerous chances.
It was suggested in the build-up to the game that Spurs would rather lose – even if it put an end to their Champions League hopes – than beat Man City and give Arsenal a chance to win the title.
But Neville has suggested there was no such feeling in the Tottenham dressing room as he lifted the lid on Spurs’ team talk after speaking to a member of their backroom staff.
Manchester City beat Spurs to put one hand on the Premier League trophy (Picture: Getty)
‘I think the Tottenham fans are in a win-win situation,’ Neville told Sky Sports before kick-off. ‘If their team win they’re happy and if they lose then obviously Arsenal are disappointed.
‘I just spoke to someone in the backroom staff at Tottenham and he said the team talk and the spirit was really high in the dressing room.
‘We’re hearing that some of the fans want City to win so it stops Arsenal from winning the title but one thing is for certain, the players don’t think like that. There’s a lot of examples of where the integrity has stood up.’
Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson also dismissed suggestions the home side would purposely ruin Arsenal’s title hopes by phoning it in against the defending champions.
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‘There’s a lot of noise about it. We’ve seen little bits but, for us, it’s full focus on the game,’ he said in a pre-match interview.
‘Champions League qualification is still on the line and that’s the most important for us.’
City were far from at their best against Tottenham but clinched a vital three points to go two points ahead of Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s final games.
‘Today was incredible, the character,’ Rodri said. ‘We know it wasn’t the best game but we must talk about the substitutions.
City are on the verge of a record fourth league title (Picture: Getty)
‘[Substitute goalkeeper] Stefan Ortega was simply incredible and we have the best goalkeeper in the world. We know it’s not done yet. We need the people behind us.’
While Man City welcome West Ham to the Etihad on Sunday, Arsenal host Everton as they look to keep the pressure on their title rivals and finish another impressive season on a high.
Tottenham, meanwhile, visit Bramall Lane to face bottom-placed Sheffield United but can no longer catch Aston Villa for the final Champions League spot.
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