Tottenham Hotspur showed Pep Guardiola how much work he has in front of him after signing his contract extension to stay at Manchester City until summer 2027 with a comprehensive away 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 ever run as a manager, against Ange Postecoglou’s rampant team.
The recalled James Maddison, on the bench for the previous two league games, scored twice inside 20 minutes, on his 28th birthday, to put Spurs in control. Erling Haaland had missed two chances before Maddison made it 1-0 in the 13th minute from a wonderful Dejan Kulusevski cross. Josko Gvardiol’s poor pass was then pounced on and the England midfielder clipped in his second from Son Heung-min’s clever reverse ball.
Tottenham were constantly on the front foot and the game was as good as over seven minutes into the second half when right-back Pedro Porro finished off good work from Dominic Solanke.
The Etihad Stadium crowd were stunned and City fans left in droves long before the final whistle — so missing Timo Werner’s brilliant work in setting up Brennan Johnson to add a fourth in the third minute of added time.
Guardiola has his hands full if City, who will be eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool if they win at last-placed Southampton tomorrow, are to win a fifth successive title now.
The Athletic’s Sam Lee, Jay Harris and Anantaajith Raghuraman
Has Maddison silenced his critics?
Maddison’s performance in the 3-2 Europa League defeat away to Galatasaray just before the November 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 some underwhelming performances in the Premier League. He has not completed 90 minutes yet this season, and was even taken off at half-time in October’s 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. But it turned out to be a masterstroke from Postecoglou as Maddison celebrated turning 28 today in style.
Maddison’s first proper involvement was to make a darting run into the box and steer a left-footed volley past Ederson in the 13th minute. From that point on, he ran the show. He pulled off difficult reverse passes in his own half which snaked between City’s players and launched Tottenham attacks, and nutmegged Rico Lewis when it appeared he was stuck near the corner flag.
After the disappointment of losing at home against promoted Ipswich Town in their previous game, Tottenham needed their leaders to step up today 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 one dangerous through ball by England colleague 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 Solanke and Maddison pressing high up the pitch and latching onto Gvardiol’s sloppy pass. Maddison then exchanged passes with Son before delicately chipping the ball over Ederson.
Postecoglou said that Maddison needed to provide “compelling evidence” to be recalled by England as they enter the Thomas Tuchel era. It does not get much better than masterminding a four-goal away victory over the four-in-a-row champions.
Jay Harris
When does a City blip become a crisis?
Going by the pre-match energy in the Etihad, you would think that City were about to be crowned champions again. Guardiola’s new deal, Rodri was back in town with his Ballon d’Or award; 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 matches in a row and while Guardiola ending any talk of him leaving next summer is good news, and Rodri’s individual achievements are worth celebrating, there are issues that cannot be patched up by vibes alone.
A few clubs have taken advantage of that already this season and, unfortunately for City, Spurs always had the potential to be another (and next weekend, it’s Liverpool at Anfield). The City midfield has looked slow and weak at times this season, and during the international break that unit 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, which means that when Haaland misses his chances it is a big problem. Even bigger when Gvardiol, who is obviously an excellent player but still young and fallible, makes a couple of mistakes which turn into goals.
The good vibes did not last long, and it might be a while before they return, but with Guardiola in charge, they surely will.
Sam Lee
How important will this win be for Postecoglou?
Tottenham have beaten City for the second time in a month. If critics could argue their 2-1 home win in the Carabao Cup was against a significantly weakened team, then it is only fair to point out that 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. Tottenham failed to win any of their away matches against the five other members of the ‘Big Six’ last season but have torn Manchester United and now neighbours City apart without conceding a goal in either game.
Postecoglou deserves credit for tweaking his approach for this match. Kulusevski, magnificent in a central role this season, stayed high and wide to provide a devastating threat on the counter-attack. It is no surprise the Swede was directly involved in two of the goals, setting up Maddison’s opener and playing another superb pass in the move for Porro’s thumping third.
Postecoglou after Maddison’s second goal (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
The visitors were missing both first-choice centre-backs, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, but it did not affect them after they survived a nervous opening 10 minutes. Radu Dragusin bounced back from being pushed around by Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen and Liam Delap of Ipswich to keep 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 under a new manager and post-Harry Kane.
The aim is to produce performances like they did today on a more consistent basis.
If they follow this up with a win at home against Fulham next Sunday, belief will flood 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 City’s other injured players is that Rodri is still going to be missing for the rest of the season and that their midfield is still going to be lacking a certain profile of player — one who is physical and mobile.
Kovacic had 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. Lewis and Ilkay Gundogan 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)
Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and James McAtee obviously add legs (in theory, given we do not know how fit De Bruyne is after his own injury issues) 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 summer arrival from Bournemouth came with questions over Spurs spending £65million ($81.5m at the current exchange rate) on a striker with only one prolific Premier League season to his name and about to turn 27. However, his performances in games like these, where he was one of their best players without getting on the scoresheet, are testament to why Postecoglou’s side needed him.
He ended a match he’d played every minute of with one shot on target and fewer than 10 passes completed. However, his off-the-ball effort was crucial. As the leader of Tottenham’s press, Solanke forced a couple of indecisive passes that helped them regain possession or won fouls with clever body positioning to slow the tempo down after City’s early intensity pinned the visitors back.
When Spurs had the ball, the England international repeatedly dropped deep, dragging a City 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 counter-attack, Solanke’s perseverance led to Ederson staying on his line rather than charging out to try to collect the ball. Once Solanke picked it up on the right side of the box, City’s midfield failing to track runners allowed him to play a simple cutback that Porro converted to make it 3-0.
It was just reward for a tireless performance by Solanke, whose work rate allowed his team-mates to flourish.
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Bissouma’s booking — after 18 seconds
The opening 15 seconds of the game provided a peek into how the first half may have transpired if Spurs had made errors in possession.
As the visitors kicked off, Solanke found Ben Davies, who passed to Yves Bissouma dropping between two City players. However, as Bissouma turned, Bernardo Silva rushed towards him to cut the passing angle, forcing the Mali midfielder to turn into danger. Bissouma took a heavy touch and that allowed Gundogan to tackle him, resulting in a loose ball Foden latched onto.
As Foden bore down on goal in what could have become a four-versus-two in City’s favour, Bissouma dove in to make a tackle from behind.
Referee John Brooks showed no hesitation in brandishing the game’s first yellow card, according to Opta after 18 seconds, making it the earliest caution of the past three Premier League seasons at least, six seconds sooner than the next quickest — Ryan Christie’s for a foul on Luis Diaz during Bournemouth’s 3-0 loss away to Liverpool in September.
Hardly the start Spurs would have envisioned away to the champions, but they weathered the early City onslaught before those two moments of Maddison magic handed them a healthy advantage at the break.
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What did Pep Guardiola say?
Guardiola told BBC Sport: “We are fragile at the moment, we could not defend properly. We started well, struggled to score and then conceded. Then the situation is more difficult. I’ve been here as a player, maybe not as a manager — first three games at Barcelona, we lost. The only chance we have is stay there. Last eight years, the results have been there. It would be a mistake to change the approach.
“There are not fairytales in life and sport, sometimes you have to live through these situations. You have to accept it. You can’t blame each other. Stay together, continue to do what we have done. Run away? Absolutely not, we have to stand up more than ever. What will define us is when we fail, we stand up and face it.
“I don’t know what will happen this season, but not for one second will I not believe in these players. There is no team in the world that can sustain success for eight, nine, 10 years in a row. Of course everything is not fine, but what we try to do is analyse it, let’s go to the next game and see what happens.”
What did Ange Postecoglou say?
Postecoglou told BBC Sport: “Proud of the lads. City at their place is a daunting prospect. It challenges every part of you. We had to be disciplined and work hard — and play decent football — and we did that. Our football was the difference today. Outstanding performance.
“You have to be clinical. They won’t give you too many opportunities. There was a calmness and maturity about how we handled the ball. Against City, you can get spooked and don’t want to play against them. But you have to play. They test you in every way — mentally, physically, tactically. Our flat spots have been really flat and something we need to eradicate. We’re a much better team this year than last year. We just need to find consistency.”
On Maddison: “Not just the goals. He was going to be key for us in getting control of the midfield. He worked hard defensively. He’s gone through a bit of a lean spell but he’s stayed with us during the international break. He was determined to get back to the levels he wants to be. It was a perfect game for him. He hasn’t been that badly out of form. He just sets high standards. Part of that is on me — I have to get the best out of the players.”
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: Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
