Tottenham turned on the style to end Pep Guardiola's unbeaten start
as Manchester City manager in a superb 2-0 victory at White Hart Lane on
Sunday.
City had won 10 and drawn one of their opening 11 competitive matches
under Guardiola and another win would have seen the Catalan stand alone
with the best start to a managerial career in the Premier League.
But Tottenham, who now stand as the only unbeaten side in the league,
were rewarded for a sublime display in front of their home supporters,
with Mauricio Pochettino's men fully deserving of the three points for a
slick and vibrant attacking display.
There were signs of City's defensive frailties in the midweek 3-3
Champions League draw against Celtic and Aleksandar Kolarov - at fault
for the Bhoys' third on Wednesday - gifted Tottenham the opener with a
woeful own goal.
It was 2-0 before the break when impressive duo Dele Alli and Son
Heung-min combined brilliantly for the former to leave City facing an
uphill task with a calm finish.
Tottenham had chances to make it three after the break and Erik
Lamela missed a 65th-minute penalty, with regular taker Harry Kane still
absent through injury.
Luckily for Spurs that did not prove costly and on this evidence
Pochettino's men, who are now just one point adrift of the league
leaders, are very much contenders for the title.
David Silva could have put City into a fourth-minute lead had he made
any contact at the near post from Jesus Navas' low right-wing centre.
However, Spurs' fluent attacking play was causing problems for the City defence with Son a particular threat.
Tottenham broke the deadlock in comical circumstances, though.
Kolarov - under no pressure - inexplicably miskicked his clearance from
Danny Rose's deep left-wing cross past a helpless Claudio Bravo.
Spurs continued in the ascendancy and Son tested Bravo with a
near-post drive, before Christian Eriksen flashed a 20-yard free-kick
past the left-hand post.
The visitors were perhaps fortunate not to have Nicolas Otamendi sent
off for a second bookable offence for a trip on Alli, but it was
deservedly 2-0 before the interval.
Alli got a lucky break when his pass deflected off Pablo Zabaleta
into Son's path and the England midfielder continued his run to take
Son's throughball before coolly slotting past Bravo.
There was no let-up after the break and Son curled a left-foot effort
wide, before Bravo parried a low 25-yard drive from Victor Wanyama to
safety.
The home side survived a scare when Sergio Aguero sprung the offside
trap to hit a left-foot shot at Hugo Lloris that eventually bounced to
safety off the post.
From there, City showed signs of improvement going forward, but a
couple of shaky moments in defence twice led to chances for Eriksen.
Tottenham then had a great chance to put the match beyond doubt when
Fernandinho was penalised for a clumsy trip on Alli in the penalty area,
but Bravo dived to his left to keep out Lamela's spot-kick.
Lloris had to be alert to make smart stops from Kelechi Iheanacho and
Aguero as City applied the pressure in the closing stages, but the
visitors were unable to preserve their unbeaten status under Guardiola.
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