Manchester City 0, Tottenham 2
Spurs stunned Manchester City at the Etihad with goals by Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha to become only the second Premier League side to record 10 wins against Pep Guardiola’s City after Liverpool.
After the table topping start at strugglers Wolves City were brought down to earth by a rejuvenated Spurs under new manager Thomas Frank.
His Tottenham side became only the second side to win away at a Pep Guardiola team in successive seasons after Manchester United who achieved this feat in 2019/20 and 2020/21.
And they did it through hard work off the ball against a City side who created enough chances to score but didn’t take those chances – Omar Marmoush passed up several chances to get City on the scoresheet.
There were early signs of the dynamism that was missing from last season but Spurs looked physically up for the challenge and outworked City off the ball.
City went close through Omar Marmoush but suffered an early blow when Rayan Ait-Nouri had to come off after picking up a knock in the first half.
City were soon behind though as a ball forward to Richarlison found the Brazilian in space behind the City defence and able to square to Brennan Johnson who opened the scoring after VAR checked.
Pedro Porro was brought down just outside the box as Spurs went for a second goal but James Trafford gifted wrapped it for them minutes later when his poor attempt to pass out to Nico Gonzalez went horribly wrong and he lost out to Richarlison when trying to fix his error only for Joao Palhinha to rifle home the loose ball in first half injury time.
With Spurs two goals to the good they reverted to a dense defensive shape for the second half that City struggled to break down.
It took an error from Vicario, whose pass to Micky van de Van was intercepted by Oscar Bobb, was wasted as the pass to Rayan Cherki was not ideally cut back and the Frenchman could not make a better chance with it.
Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku were introduced onto the game after 54 minutes for Cherki and Marmoush.
But Lewis had to be brave to put off Richarlison after a Pedro Porro crossfield pass to the left.
Pep Guardiola introduced Rodri and Phil Foden to the fray and the latter showed some good skill before getting on the end of a thrilling run into the box by Jeremy Doku only to be tackled by Micky van de Ven.
Wilson Odobert had a great chance to put the game to bed but shot wide after Phil Foden had tried his luck earlier.
And Trafford’s two late saves late in the game will be scant consolation for City.
Embed from Getty ImagesPLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 0, Tottenham 2
James Trafford: 4. Wobbly moments when a poor first touch from Rico Lewis’ backpass allowed Richarlison to close him down and rob him. Exposed for the Spurs goal but cleared out Mohammed Kudus to get to the ball soon after as the visitors tried longer balls again to bypass the City press. Big error passing out to Nico Gonzalez led to the second Spurs goal and he went wandering again in the second half and misjudged the flight of a ball meant for Pape Sarr. A pair of late saves will be forgotten after this performance.
Rico Lewis: 6. Inverted into midfield more once Nathan Ake came on. Put off a solid chance for Richarlison with City on the back foot again in the second half. Hollywood strike over the bar in the second half.
John Stones: 6. Early slip while bringing the ball out, seemed to play within himself after that.
Ruben Dias: 6. Unruffled by physicality of Mohammed Kudus but stepped out a little late for the opening goal and played the pacy Richarlison onside for the opening goal.
Rayan Ait-Nouri: 6. Took a heavy knock in the first half before he got going. Was struggling after that and was replaced midway through the first half – City missed his attacking width down the left.
Nico Gonzalez: 5. Sold short by James Trafford for the second Spurs goal. Swamped in midfield at times by the pace and tenacity of the visitors off the ball.
Tijjani Reijnders: 5. Still getting up to speed with the league after being caught on the ball too much. Showed good knack for picking runs from deep but allowed the Spurs midfield to dominate.
Omar Marmoush: 6. Showed plenty of skill. Rolled the ball past the bar post from almost the byline after Guglielmo Vicario failed to sweep up the loose ball. Early strike was stopped by Vicario who also blocked a shot later in the first half.
Oscar Bobb: 6. Lively down the right in bursts against a well motivated Spurs side.
Rayan Cherki: 6. Relatively quiet. Outmuscled by Richarlison when he tried to press and the other big Spurs players ahead of him. Could not convert a golden chance to score after after an error by Vicario.
Erling Haaland: 6. Heavily involved in midfield and defence but gave away an early free kick 20 yards out. Not as effective going forward and very few chances presented to him.
Nathan Ake (on for Rayan Ait-Nouri, 23): 6. Second half shot blocked.
Bernardo Silva (on for Rayan Cherki, 54): 6. Sat deep to try and regain control of midfield but given the run around at times then went wide right after City’s second reshuffle. Headed over late in the game.
Jeremy Doku (On for Omar Marmoush, 54): 6. Wasteful but showed some form after City’s changes – racing into the area and then setting up Phil Foden.
Phil Foden (on for Oscar Bobb, 75): 6. Central role, showed off some tricks but was taken out by Micky van de Ven as he shaped to shoot and also forced a save from Vicario.
Rodri (on for Nico Gonzalez, 75): 6. Showed how to anchor midfield.
GOALS – Manchester City 0, Tottenham 2
Man City 0, Tottenham 1: 37. Mohammed Kudus tried to find Richarlison, Ruben Dias stepped up late for offside but the Brazilian was allowed to run free behind the back line and square the ball for Brennan Johnson to score. A brief VAR check confirmed Richarlison was onside.
Man City 0, Tottenham 2: 45+2. Joao Palhinha rifled home the loose ball after a terrible pass out by James Trafford for Nico Gonzalez was closed down by Pape Sarr. Trafford tried to get the loose ball but Richarlison pressed him into another error from which Palhinha profited.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 0, Tottenham 2
Man City: Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Dias (C), Ait-Nouri (Ake 23), Gonzalez (Rodri 75), Reijnders, Marmoush (Doku 54), Bobb (Foden 75), Cherki (Silva 54), Haaland
Man City Subs not used: Ederson,, Nunes, O’Reilly, Khusanov
Booked: Nico Gonzalez 71 (ungentlemanly conduct)
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero (C), Van de Van, Spence, Palhinha (Danso 90+1), Sarr, Bentancur, Kudus (Bergvall 86), Johnson (Odobert 77), Richarlison (Solanke 77)
Tottenham Subs not used: Kinsky, Tel, Gray, Vuskovic, Davies
Bookings: Johnson 34 (foul on Rico Lewis); Romero 68 (foul on Oscar Bobb); Richarlison 71 (ungentlemanly conduct); Porro 81 (time wasting)
Goals: Johnson 37; Palhinha 45+2
Referee: Peter Bankes