Tottenham moved top of the Premier League as Jose Mourinho’s side claimed a hard-fought victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
City dominated in both possession and chances but goals from Son Heung-min and substitute Giovani lo Celso – 35 seconds after his introduction – sealed a fourth successive league win for Spurs.
Captain Harry Kane set up Lo Celso with his ninth assist in as many league matches midway through the second half, after Son had slotted in his ninth goal of the campaign five minutes into the contest from Tanguy Ndombele’s lofted pass.
Both sides had a goal disallowed in the first half, as Kane strayed offside at the end of a sweeping team move and referee Mike Dean retrospectively penalised Gabriel Jesus for handball in the build-up to Aymeric Laporte’s strike.
Spurs are two points above Chelsea and Leicester City, though the Foxes can reclaim top spot with victory over champions Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday (19:15 GMT).
Defeat leaves City 10th and eight points off the early pace – but with a game in hand.
Mourinho was a bundle of energy in his technical area as Spurs took all Manchester City could throw at them to come out with the win that puts them at the Premier League summit and also made a powerful statement about their ambitions and aspirations.
Mourinho’s voice echoed around this vast, empty arena as he urged on his players, shouting instructions with regular demands of “press the ball”. Guardiola, in contrast, was understandably subdued and downcast.
It is still early days for a club that has struggled to win silverware over so many recent years, but there is a growing sense of strength and optimism around Spurs, fuelled by a serial winner as a manager who looks revitalised after the acrimonious end to his spell at Manchester United.
Spurs have the golden threat of the likes of Son – who has now scored 11 goals in all competitions this season – and Kane, with Gareth Bale on the bench here, but they now have some many of the usual Mourinho traits that have always made his teams so difficult to beat.
It has been a year since he succeeded the hugely popular Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs are starting to resemble Mourinho’s image and likeness, epitomised by the unfussy but highly effective midfield sentry Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, a signing from Southampton that was a managerial priority in the summer.
Spurs are currently a potent mix of solidity and threat, as proved by the way they dug deep to keep Manchester City out before striking to deadly effect. Spurs had two shots on target and scored twice.
In Kane, Spurs also possess the complete forward at the very top of his game, a class act as a provider for the ninth time in as many league games this season – but also the master marksman when his chances come along, as they will with regularity this season.
Spurs and their fans will not get carried away but there can be no denying Mourinho’s tried and trusted methods are having their effect, with the long-time foe Guardiola the victim on this occasion.
Toothless Man City fall short again
Manchester City clearly had a grievance against the decision to rule out Laporte’s goal for handball against Jesus that left them nursing a sense of injustice. However, it would still disappoint Guardiola that his team had so much of the ball but actually did so little with it when it came to seriously testing Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.
It has become something of pattern with Manchester City and this was another occasion, although Guardiola did not feel able to risk the likes of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero other than on the substitutes’ bench, reducing their level of threat.
City were easily unpicked by Ndombele’s pass for Son’s early strike and there was almost a sense of inevitability that their toothlessness would end with Spurs sweeping up the other end to add a second through Lo Celso.
It is hardly panic stations for City as they stand eight points off the top with a game in hand. This is shaping up as a season with many twists and turns to come – but this was another unsatisfactory result and performance.
Aguero’s now regular fitness issues rob Guardiola and City of their most lethal finisher in and around the box, the 32-year-old Argentine still the most reliable goalscorer at the club but now seemingly troubled too much by injury.
Guardiola will now move into the next phase of his reign at City after signing a two-year contract extension and preparing for the day they have to do without one of their all-time great players will soon be an issue.
This is still a Manchester City side packed with world-class players but this was another of those days that have been happening since the start of last season when they simply lack a ruthless edge and end up being punished.
It is a problem Guardiola needs to resolve – and quickly.
‘We are not fighting for the title’ – what the managers said
Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho told BBC Sport: “It feels good [to be top], but maybe tomorrow we are second again and honestly that would not be a problem for me, I am just happy with the evolution.
“People cannot expect us to come here and after one season we are fighting for the title. We are not fighting for the title, we are just fighting to win every match. But we are going to lose matches, we are going to draw matches.
“Dinner tonight will be nice and relaxed and I will watch Atletico Madrid v Barcelona and sleep like an angel. But no problem if Leicester wins [on Sunday] and we are second again.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said: “It could be better, we played similar to how we have all season. We did not defend good for the first goal. They then defended so deep, they defended with six and it was not easy. We had our chances, but we couldn’t score and they made two or three chances on the counter-attack and we lost the game.
“We knew before the game that you cannot give them the first goal. We had more chances than them but we lost. Mourinho’s teams are like this, you make a mistake and they punish you on the counter-attack.”
Spurs end day top for first time in six years – the stats
- It is the first time since August 2014 that Tottenham will finish a day top of the Premier League and the first time they have done so after at least nine top-flight games since January 1985.
- Meanwhile, 12 points from eight games is Manchester City’s lowest points total at this stage of a Premier League season since 2008-09, while their 10 goals scored is their lowest after eight games since 2006-07.
- Tottenham have won back-to-back league games against Manchester City for the first time since October 2016.
- City have had 41 shots in their past two league games against Spurs but have lost both without scoring.
- Tottenham have scored more goals in the first half of Premier League games than any other side this season, with their 11 in the opening 45 minutes more than City have scored in the competition this season (10).
- Son has scored five goals in five games in all competitions against Manchester City and his strike after four minutes 19 seconds was the earliest City have conceded in the league since December 2016, against Arsenal.
- Kane has provided nine assists in his nine Premier League games this season, after providing just eight assists in his previous three campaigns, or 94 games, combined.
