‘Pep Guardiola slaps Djed Spence after Man City beat Tottenham’
Pep Guardiola appeared to slap Djed Spence in the face as the pair communicated after Tottenham lost 1-0 to Man City on Wednesday.
Erling Haaland was the sole goalscorer at Hotspur Way on 26 February, with Ange Postecoglou subjected to his 14th defeat of the Premier League season.
The defeat meant Spurs fell one place to 13th in the league table, unable to continue their winning streak after back-to-back wins over Man United and Ipswich Town.
There was plenty of controversy as Haaland had a late second ruled out right at the death, with VAR checking for handball in the build-up, and the free-kick finally being awarded.
But it was second-half substitute Spence, who has experienced a total resurgence at Tottenham this season, who created one of the biggest talking points of the match.
Pep Guardiola and Djed Spence share a nice moment after Tottenham loss
Taking to X [26 February], journalist Jay Harris wrote: “Pep Guardiola just playfully slapped Djed Spence in the face and kept pointing to his chest? I think that was his way of complementing Spence.”
He followed that up with another tweet, saying: “Spence and [Jeremy] Doku then swapped shirts. He is a man in demand.”
Guardiola is known for often having strong words with opposition players after games, normally looking as though he is rather angry even when apparently praising them, and this looks to be one of those moments.
Few players have improved for Spurs quite like how Spence has done, keeping Mohamed Salah, Leon Bailey and Bryan Mbeumo quiet in recent weeks, and rather easily too.
Ange Postecoglou has tough decisions ahead
Despite Spence’s form, Postecoglou began the night with Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie at full-back, leaving the in-form stuck on the bench until the 67th minute.
He will not want to go back to life on the bench when he has been starring up against some of the league’s toughest players, which leaves the manager with a tricky decision.
| Djed Spence’s last five starts | FotMob rating |
| Ipswich Town | 8.1 |
| Man United | 7.9 |
| Aston Villa | 6.5 |
| Liverpool | 6.4 |
| Brentford | 8.4 |
Porro, who has been strongly linked with Real Madrid, is one of Spurs’ biggest stars but even his form has dropped significantly this season.
When the summer transfer window rolls around, there will be some difficult decisions to make when it comes to getting his players on the pitch or finding them new homes.