Tottenham Hotspur showed Pep Guardiola how much work he has in front of him after signing his contact extension to stay at Manchester City with a comprehensive victory over the champions.
Guardiola confirmed his new deal on Thursday but could do nothing to prevent his side sliding to a fifth defeat on the spin, his worst run as a manager, against Ange Postecoglou’s rampant team.
The recalled James Maddison scored twice inside 20 minutes on his 28th birthday to put Spurs in control. Erling Haaland had missed two chances before Maddison opened the scoring in the 13th minute from a wonderful Dejan Kulusevski cross. Josko Gvardiol’s poor pass was then pounced on and Maddison clipped in his second from Son Heung-Min’s clever reverse ball.
Spurs were constantly on the front foot and the game was as good as over in the 52nd minute when right-back Pedro Porro finished off good work from Dominic Solanke.
The Etihad Stadium was stunned and home fans left in droves long before the final whistle — and missed Timo Werner’s brilliant work in setting up Brennan Johnson to add a fourth in the third minute of added time.
Guardiola has his work cut out if City are to win a fifth successive title.
The Athletic’s Sam Lee, Jay Harris and Anantaajith Raghuraman
Has Maddison silenced his critics?
Maddison’s performance in Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat away to Galatasaray before the international break was alarming. He drifted through the game, was bullied off the ball and failed to make an impact. It was supposed to be an opportunity for the midfielder to impress Postecoglou after underwhelming performances in the Premier League. He has not completed 90 minutes yet this season and was even taken off at half-time in the 4-1 victory over West Ham United.
It felt like a bold call to start him against City in a game where Tottenham would have less possession than they are accustomed to and would have to do a lot of defensive work. It turned out to be a masterstroke from Postecoglou as Maddison celebrated turning 28 in style.
Maddison’s first proper involvement at the Etihad was to make a darting run into the box and steer a left-footed volley past Ederson in the 13th minute. From that point onwards he ran the show. He pulled off difficult reverse passes in his own half which snaked through City’s forwards and launched Tottenham attacks and nutmegged Rico Lewis when it appeared he was stuck near the corner flag.
After the disappointment of losing to Ipswich Town, Tottenham needed their leaders to step up and Maddison certainly did. He told his team-mates when to time their tackles and where to direct their runs. He cleared the ball from corners and intercepted a dangerous through ball from Phil Foden.
Maddison has been overshadowed by Kulusevski this season but this was a statement performance capped by a beautiful second goal. It stemmed from Dominic Solanke and Maddison pressing high up the pitch and latching onto Gvardiol’s sloppy pass. Maddison exchanged passes with Son before delicately chipping the ball over Ederson.
Postecoglou said that Maddison needed to provide “compelling evidence” to be recalled for England. It does not get much better than masterminding an away victory over the champions.
Jay Harris
When does a City blip become a crisis?
Going by the pre-match energy in the stadium you would think that City were about to be crowned champions. Guardiola’s new deal, Rodri was back in town with his Ballon d’Or; throw in a light show, some banners and a guard of honour and you have yourself a celebration.
The reality, of course, was that City had lost four in a row and while Guardiola’s new contract is good news, and Rodri’s achievements are worth celebrating, there are issues that cannot be patched up by good vibes alone.
A few teams have taken advantage of that this season and unfortunately for City, Spurs always had the potential to be another (next weekend it’s Liverpool at Anfield). The City midfield has looked slow and weak at times this season and during the international break they lost Mateo Kovacic to injury, making matters worse.
Guardiola’s mood changed inside 20 minutes (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
They have looked short of goalscorers this season, too, and that means that when Erling Haaland misses his chances it is a big problem. Even bigger when Gvardiol, who is obviously an excellent player but is still young and fallible, makes a couple of mistakes which turn into goals. The good vibes did not last long, and it might take a while for them to return, although with Guardiola in charge they surely will.
Sam Lee
How important will this win be for Postecoglou?
Tottenham have beaten Manchester City for the second time in a month. If critics could argue that their 2-1 victory in the Carabao Cup was against a significantly weakened team then it is only fair to point out that Pep Guardiola used all of the best talent available to him here.
This is a huge result for Postecoglou after the disappointment of losing to Ipswich Town just before the international break. Tottenham failed to win any of their away matches against other members of the ‘big six’ last season. They have torn apart Manchester City and Manchester United this season without conceding a goal.
Postecoglou deserves credit for tweaking his approach to this match. Kulusevski, who has been magnificent in a central role this season, stayed high and wide to provide a devastating threat on the counter. It is no surprise he was directly involved in two of their goals, setting up Maddison’s opener and playing another superb pass in the build-up to Porro’s thumping strike.
Postecoglou after Maddison’s second goal (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Tottenham were missing their two first-choice centre-backs, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, but it did not affect them apart from a nervous opening 10 minutes. Radu Dragusin bounced back from being pushed around by Galatsaray’s Victor Osimhen and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap by keeping Haaland quiet.
Spurs and Postecoglou have been rightly criticised for some of their results this season but it is easy to forget they are still only 18 months into this project. The aim is to produce performances like they did at the Etihad on a more consistent basis. If they back this up with a victory over Fulham next weekend then belief will come flooding back into the fanbase.
Jay Harris
How will City strengthen their midfield in January?
The thing with Guardiola’s renewal and even the return of the injured players is that Rodri is still going to be missing for the season and that the midfield is still going to be lacking a certain profile of player — one who is physical and mobile.
Kovacic has been doing a decent job in Rodri’s absence but he is not the type of player they need and even he is injured now. Ilkay Gundogan and Rico Lewis seem not to have the legs to do the job either. Matheus Nunes has the legs but not the nous.
Rodri was given quite the reception before kick-off – he is much missed (PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and James McAtee obviously add legs (in theory, given we do not know how fit De Bruyne is) but are not the solutions in deep areas. And so it seems the only solution to that problem lies in the transfer market. Who will that be?
Sam Lee
Why Solanke is so crucial to Spurs
Solanke’s arrival at Tottenham came with questions over Spurs spending £65million on a striker with only one prolific Premier League season on his CV. However, his performances in games like these, where he was one of Spurs’ best players without getting on the scoresheet, are testament to why Postecoglou’s side needed him.
Solanke ended Saturday’s match with one shot on target and fewer than 10 passes completed. However, his off-the-ball effort was crucial. As the leader of Spurs’ press, Solanke forced a couple of indecisive passes that helped Spurs win the ball back or won fouls with clever body positioning to slow the tempo down after City’s early intensity pinned the visitors back.
When Spurs had possession, the England international repeatedly dropped back, dragging a defender with him to open passing and running lanes for his team-mates.
Solanke’s selflessness stood out (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Solanke’s efforts ultimately got him an assist in the second half. With Kulusevski overhitting his pass from the left flank on a Spurs counter, Solanke’s perseverance led to Ederson staying on his line rather than charging out to collect the ball. Once Solanke collected the ball on the right side of the box, City’s midfield failing to track runners allowed him to play a simple cut back that Porro converted to make it 3-0.
It was just reward for a tireless performance from Solanke, whose work-rate allowed his teammates to flourish.
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Bissouma’s booking — after 11 seconds
The opening 15 seconds of the game provided a peek into how the first half may have transpired if Spurs made errors in possession.
As the visitors kicked off, Solanke found Ben Davies, who passed to Yves Bissouma dropping between two Man City players. However, as Bissouma turned, Bernardo Silva rushed towards him to cut the passing angle, forcing the Spurs midfielder to turn into danger. Bissouma took a heavy touch and that allowed Ilkay Gundogan to tackle him, resulting in a loose ball that Phil Foden latched onto.
As Foden bore down on goal in what could have become a four-versus-two in City’s favour just 11 seconds into the game, Bissouma dove in to make a tackle from behind.
Referee John Brooks showed no hesitation in brandishing the game’s first yellow, making it the earliest caution of the last three Premier League seasons at least, eight seconds earlier than the next earliest — Ryan Christie’s yellow for a foul on Luis Diaz during Bournemouth’s 3-0 defeat away to Liverpool in September.
Hardly the start Spurs would have envisioned against the champions, but they weathered the early City onslaught before two moments of Maddison magic handed them a healthy advantage at the break.
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What did Pep Guardiola say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Ange Postecoglou say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for Manchester City?
Tuesday, November 26: Feyenoord (H), Champions League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for Tottenham?
Thursday, November 28: Roma (H), Europa League, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
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(Top photo: Maddison celebrates his opening goal. Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
