Tottenham Hotspur made it back-to-back Premier League victories under new manager Thomas Frank with another statement win at the Etihad Stadium, defeating Manchester City 2-0 on 23 August to maintain their perfect start to the season and briefly go top of the table.
Just as they did last November with a 4-0 thrashing, Spurs once again left Manchester with all three points thanks to a disciplined defensive display and ruthless counter-attacking. It capped a turbulent week for the club following the collapse of their pursuit of Crystal Palace winger Eberechi Eze, who instead joined rivals Arsenal. Travelling fans voiced their discontent towards chairman Daniel Levy from the outset, chanting “we want Levy out”, but by full-time their songs of “we love you Tottenham” echoed around the stadium.
City began the brighter of the two sides. Off-season signing Omar Marmoush was particularly lively early on, firing narrowly wide after capitalising on Pedro Porro’s loose header, and later drawing a superb save from Guglielmo Vicario with a powerful strike from range. The Egyptian forward then forced another stop from the Spurs goalkeeper after being played through by Erling Haaland. Yet for all City’s early probing, Spurs struck first with their opening real attack.
On 35 minutes, a lightning break saw Richarlison burst clear on the right and square low for Brennan Johnson to sweep home. The assistant referee’s flag initially denied Spurs, but a VAR check overturned the call, confirming John Stones had narrowly kept Richarlison onside.
The first half became scrappy after an injury to City left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri led to seven minutes of added time. During that period, Pep Guardiola’s side imploded. James Trafford’s risky pass out from the back was intercepted by Pape Matar Sarr and recycled to Richarlison. When the goalkeeper dived at the Brazilian’s feet, the loose ball fell invitingly for João Palhinha, who smashed home his first goal since joining Spurs on loan from Bayern Munich.
It was a torrid few minutes for Trafford, who moments earlier had been fortunate to escape a red card for a collision with Mohammed Kudus on the edge of the box. Haaland should have pulled one back before the break but headed over from close range, and that miss summed up City’s afternoon.
Guardiola’s men pressed after the interval, dominating possession, but lacked any real incision. The usually prolific Haaland failed to register a shot on target, while Phil Foden saw a late opening snuffed out by Micky van de Ven. Bernardo Silva also went close, heading onto the roof of the net from a tight angle. Vicario, despite City’s territorial dominance, enjoyed a largely comfortable afternoon thanks to the visitors’ organisation.
Spurs, meanwhile, continued to threaten on the break. Substitute Dominic Solanke forced a good low save from Trafford in stoppage time, with Wilson Odobert also denied from the rebound. It could easily have been a more handsome scoreline for Frank’s side, who have now kept consecutive clean sheets to start the campaign.
The result extended Tottenham’s remarkable recent record against City. As per Opta, Guardiola’s team have won only four of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Spurs, drawing two and losing seven. Tottenham have also triumphed on three of their last five league visits to the Etihad (D1 L1).
For City, who opened their season with a 4-0 win away to Wolves, this was a sobering reminder that their build-up play remains vulnerable to an organised press. For Frank, it was further proof that his Spurs project will be tactically astute and resilient.