Haaland hat-trick drama as Man City edge Spurs in Premier League live thriller
10.02.2026 - 14:55:12
Man City 4–2 Tottenham: Haaland goes full machine mode
Let's start with the headliner. Manchester City 4–2 Tottenham at the Etihad, and Erling Haaland basically walked in, ripped the script up and wrote his own. The Norwegian cyborg smashed a hat-trick – goals from Erling Haaland (23', 51', 88' pen) plus a slick finish from Phil Foden (39') dragged City over the line after a seriously stubborn Spurs fightback.
Tottenham actually stunned City early. On the break, classic Ange-ball: quick one-touch passing, and suddenly Dejan Kulusevski (11') is drifting in from the right and whipping a left-foot curler beyond Ederson. Silence around the Etihad, away end losing its mind.
But you cannot give Kevin De Bruyne space. Not a yard. Not half a yard. He drops deep, turns, and lasers a through ball that slices Spurs wide open. Haaland shrugs off his marker, opens his body and side-foots past Vicario for 1–1. Cold. Brutal. Clinical.
Then came the move of the night. City at full tilt, 25 passes, everyone touching it – Foden, Bernardo, Rodri, all involved – before the ball breaks kindly, and Phil Foden (39') arrives late on the edge of the box to drill low into the corner. That's a training-ground clip you'll see for weeks.
Spurs, though, refused to die. Early second half, they force a corner, Romero climbs above everyone, nods it down and Son Heung-min (56') is there to stab home from inside the six-yard box. 2–2. Suddenly the anxiety around the stadium is very, very real.
Haaland vs everyone: superstar verdicts
- Erling Haaland – Hero, full stop. Three goals, constant menace, bullied centre-backs all night. His second, on 51 minutes, came after he anticipated a Foden cut-back faster than anyone else and smashed it first time into the roof of the net from close range. That's pure striker instinct.
- Kevin De Bruyne – Not on the scoresheet, but outrageous again. Two assists, one pre-assist, and controlled basically every serious City attack. When he went off to a standing ovation late on, you knew he'd just played one of those "best in the world" type games.
- Son Heung-min – Massive for Spurs. A goal, endless running, and constantly trying to hit City on the break. He looked fuming at full-time – and you could see why.
- James Maddison – Flashes of quality but faded badly. When Spurs needed someone to put the foot on the ball late, he just never really grabbed it.
VAR madness and a late penalty meltdown
This is where the whole stadium lost its mind. 84th minute, City leading 3–2 thanks to Haaland's earlier strike, Spurs throwing the kitchen sink. Cross into City's box, ball smashes into the arm of a sliding defender. The ref waves play on, but VAR says: hang on.
Big screen: VAR CHECK – POSSIBLE PENALTY. You could cut the tension with a knife. The replay shows the arm out from the body, the ball clearly hitting it. Still, referees have been all over the place with this lately. After what felt like a full episode of a TV drama, the ref finally jogs to the monitor, takes one look…and sticks with no penalty. Spurs bench absolutely losing it.
Seconds later, boom – City break. Haaland powers through, Spurs are stretched, and he goes down from a clumsy challenge in the box at the other end. This time, the ref points straight to the spot. VAR checks again but the contact's obvious. Haaland steps up, smacks it low into the bottom corner on 88 minutes. 4–2. Game over. Spurs players surround the referee at full-time, fans online are furious.
What this does to the title race
That win is absolutely huge for Manchester City. Drop points here and the door swings wide open for the chasing pack. Instead, they keep the pressure right at the top. Spurs, meanwhile, slide further away from the Champions League spots – and with rivals breathing down their necks, it's starting to look messy.
City's goal difference also gets a big bump thanks to Haaland's treble, and you know that can be massive come May. Spurs, for all their bravery, are now in that awkward zone where one more bad week and the season feels like it's slipping away.
What does this mean for the title race? Click here for the live standings
Elsewhere in Europe: Bellingham & Mbappé watch
Over in Spain, all eyes were on Jude Bellingham again. Real Madrid scraped a tight win where Jude Bellingham didn't get on the scoresheet but absolutely dominated the midfield with his driving runs and link-up play. He was more playmaker than poacher tonight – still the heartbeat of everything good they did.
In France, Kylian Mbappé was once again PSG's main weapon. A goal from Mbappé and another from a teammate saw them ease through their league clash, and he looked in cruise-control mode: step-overs, bursts of pace, defenders backing off. Not his wildest night statistically, but still clearly the best player on the pitch.
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My take: City ruthless, Spurs naive
From a young reporter view: this felt like one of those "statement" nights. City weren't perfect, but when the game got wild, they had Haaland, De Bruyne and Foden to drag them through. That's the difference between contenders and pretenders.
Spurs played brave football, but brave without control is a gamble, and against this City side it's basically a coin flip with a loaded coin. You can admire the attacking intent, sure – Son and Kulusevski kept City honest – but if you keep leaving giant spaces for Haaland to run into, you're asking to get punished. And tonight, he punished them three times.
In my opinion, Tottenham's game management was nowhere near good enough. At 2–2, with City rattled, they had a window to slow it down, keep the ball, and make City chase. Instead, it turned into an end-to-end sprint, and when that happens at the Etihad, there's usually only one winner.
Closing whistle: the season just got louder
So where does that leave us? City alive and snarling in the title race, Haaland flying up the list of top scorers today, and Spurs staring at a brutally honest mirror. Around Europe, Bellingham and Mbappé keep stacking elite performances, and the build-up to the next wave of Champions League news is already buzzing.
If you love high-drama soccer games, today was absolutely your day – big goals, huge stars, and a league table that suddenly looks a whole lot spicier.
Check full stats & standings now
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