Manchester City 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Date Played – 25th August 1990
This was the opening match of the 1990-91 season, and the tie consisted of a Spurs side that featured England football heroes, Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne. This encounter got off to a pulsating start. Manchester city should have taken the lead after 55 seconds through forward Niall Quinn as he headed tamely at Erik Thorstvedt from David Whites cross. Only two minutes later, Gary Lineker was in less generous mood as he picked up a long punt from Thortsvedt. The ball skidded off Paul Lakes head and Lineker stole in ahead of Colin Hendry to pick up the loose ball. On the first bounce he hammered it past City’s new million pound goalkeeper, Tony Coton. The match progressed at its frantic pace as City equalized five minutes later. This time, Quinn made no mistake with a ballet header from another David White cross. At the start of the second half, Vinny Samways came on for Spurs and it made a significant impact. Nayim and Steve Sedgley of Tottenham snatched the midfield initiative from Mark Ward and Peter Reid, and Spurs increased the tempo. With 55 minutes gone, Nayim curled a delicate through ball to Gary Lineker who shot past Coton. Now, with Spurs in the lead, Gascoigne came into his own. Taking possession on the left wing, he thought about a cross, however decided against it and cut inside Ian Brightwell and smashed the ball into the net. Lineker nearly scored a hat trick late on, however the score line finished 3-1 to Spurs; the match was a great advert for English football.