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Tottenham Give Manchester City Their First Loss of the Season

By Chris Nano

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Kyle Walker of Tottenham Hotspur (C) and Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur (R) embrace after the final whistle during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at White Hart Lane on October 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Kyle Walker of Tottenham Hotspur (C) and Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur (R) embrace after the final whistle during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at White Hart Lane on October 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham picks up their fifth consecutive win in all competitions and ends Manchester City’s undefeated streak in the Premier League.

Tottenham got a couple of players back from injury, but they still weren’t 100 percent heading into the match. And yet, they managed to win 2-0 for their third straight win over Manchester City dating back to last season.

It was a marvelous performance by Spurs today at White Hart Lane this afternoon. A match between the only two remaining undefeated teams prior to kickoff. From everyone’s perspective, this was one of the most exciting matches of the year thus far and after 90 minutes it certainly lived up to the hype.

Man City were without Kevin De Bruyne, who has been their best player this season and has been an early contender for the Premier League Player of the Year award.

On the other side, Tottenham were still without Harry Kane and Mousa Dembélé. Eric Dier was on the bench, still recovering from an injury, however, he did come on as a sub later in the match.

As soon as the game was underway, Spurs wasted no time in setting the pace. The match started off with a high intensity and it stayed that way throughout.

Tottenham’s first goal would be an Aleksandar Kolarov own goal after he wasn’t able to properly connect on his clearance. Victor Wanyama set things up by winning the ball back, quickly finding Érik Lamela who laid a pass off to Danny Rose who then whipped in a cross.

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This sequence would see Spurs lead 1-0 in the ninth minute and clearly be in control of this game from the get-go.

The second goal would follow a similar path to that of their first goal. It would be set up by some good link-up play but Dele Alli’s pass to Heung-Min Son would be deflected off of a defender.

Fortunately for Son and Spurs, he was able to retrieve the ball and find Alli rushing towards the penalty spot. A good weighted through ball saw Alli easily finish to the far post and out of Claudio Bravo’s reach. Just like that Tottenham’s lead was doubled after 37 minutes.

Overall, it was another fantastic performance for Spurs during their recent winning streak. Although Man City had won six consecutive games to begin their Premier League campaign, four of their wins were against teams in the bottom half of the table.

Wins are wins, but against a top quality side like Tottenham, Spurs proved to be too much for Pep Guardiola’s side. Statistics would show that both teams were quite even, but to everyone watching it seemed clear who the better side was.

Early and often, Spurs dominated stretches of the game with their high-press and counterattacks. They would let up near the end of the game, but by then they were just seeing the game out. This is a fair result for Mauricio Pochettino and company who continue to show that they have a bright future ahead of them.

Next: Live Match Center: Tottenham v Manchester City

Sitting in second place, with a win over the league leaders at home, and great contributions from the entire starting XI and subs who came on, this is a good way for Spurs to head into the international break.