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Solanke's scorpion kick denies Man City as Spurs hit back

football01 February 2026 19:00| © Reuters
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Manchester City blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday as a moment of magic by home forward Dominic Solanke handed Arsenal a huge Premier League title boost.

Tottenham were comprehensively outplayed in the first half but everything changed after the break and Solanke earned his side a deserved point with a brilliantly improvised effort.

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First-half goals by Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo had City cruising towards a win that would have cut Arsenal's lead back to four points and a listless Tottenham left the field to the sound of boos at the interval.

But Solanke showed great strength to slot in from close range under pressure from Marc Guehi in the 53rd minute to revive home hopes and his second in the 70th minute was one that will be replayed again and again.

Diving forward to try and meet Conor Gallagher's cross,the ball was behind Solanke but he flicked out a leg and conjured a scorpion-like flick over his head with his heel that looped up and over City's keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the net.

"I had to improvise a bit, I love those finishes, trying to make something out of nothing," Solanke said. "I had to have a few looks at the big screen after."

Tottenham even had chances to win the game as the pressure eased on head coach Thomas Frank.

Second-placed City's fourth draw in their last six league games left them on 47 points from 24 games, six points behind Arsenal who won 4-0 at Leeds United on Saturday.

Tottenham are 14th with 29 points.

City's players, including an ineffective Erling Haaland, looked disconsolate as they trudged off the field at the end of the match, wondering how they had lost control of a game that they had threatened to turn into a procession.

Tottenham could not get near City in the first half and fell behind in the 11th minute when Haaland played a pass to Cherki who beat Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario with a clinical finish.

City stroked the ball around at will as Tottenham stood off and were in cruise control when defender Radu Dragusin's poor clearance was seized on by Rodri and Bernardo Silva then played in Semenyo who finished in style.

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