Peter Crouch scored the '£15m goal' against Manchester City to make history for Tottenham
11/22/2024 05:00 PM
Football fans will forever cherish the intense jubilation that comes with their team scoring a late winning goal.
The celebrations are heightened even further when they come away from home, with Tottenham huge beneficiaries of this in May 2010.
Spurs travelled to Manchester City for their penultimate fixture of the 2009/10 Premier League season with a huge prize up for grabs.
Champions League qualification for the first time in each of the clubs’ history was on the line during the clash at the Etihad Stadium.
City, who saw the completion of their £200million takeover by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group the season prior, were favourites.
However, it was their visitors from north London who stole all three points and did so in dramatic fashion thanks to Peter Crouch.
Younes Kaboul got the better of Craig Bellamy down the right flank and saw his cross deflect off Wayne Bridge towards Marton Fulop.
The goalkeeper could only parry it away and it fell into the path of Spurs striker Crouch, who headed in from inside the six-yard box.
Crouch struck in the 82nd minute of the match and immediately ran to the visiting fans behind the goal who were celebrating wildly.
Although it was far from the most glamorous of all his 108 Premier League goals, it was arguably the most important of his career.
Crouch’s header was dubbed as the ‘£15million goal’ given the hailed financial riches that come with qualifying for the Champions League.
It also sparked an iconic moment as David Bentley and some of his teammates threw a bucket of ice over manager Harry Redknapp during a post-match interview.
Spurs previously played just once in the European Cup in the 1961/62 season when they lost 4-3 on aggregate to Benfica in the semi-finals.
The north London side had never featured in UEFA’s top-tier club competition after it adopted its current name in 1992.
A 6-3 aggregate play-off round win over Young Boys allowed Redknapp’s side to reach the group stages in the 2010/11 season.
They topped Group A ahead of reigning champions Inter Milan, FC Twente and Werder Bremen, but Real Madrid knocked them out at the quarter-finals stage.
Crouch scored four goals in their European campaign before leaving at the end of the season to sign for Stoke City.
Spurs had to wait until 2016 to play Champions League football again after they finished third in the Premier League.
They even reached the final for the first time ever in 2019 but lost 2-0 to Liverpool and have failed to progress past the last since then.
City would have been gutted with the defeat to Spurs on May 5 2010 as victory would have put qualification in their hands on the final day.
However, they would make their debut in the competition just a year later courtesy of a third-place finish in the league.
They have played Champions League football in every season that has followed, first reaching the final in 2021 but losing to Chelsea 1-0.
Pep Guardiola, who has just extended his contract at the club, helped to deliver their first title in 2023 with a 1-0 victory against Inter.
City host Spurs again on Saturday evening, with both heading into the match off the back of defeats in their last Premier League fixtures.
