Key events
57 min: On Sky, co-commentator Gary Neville suggests that City are being outplayed in every single department. Pep is copping it in the stadium, too. “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” trill the satirists in the Spurs end.
55 min: Lewis skittles Maddison in the frustrated fashion, and goes into the book. The Spurs fans are making one heck of a racket. Can you blame them?
54 min: Spurs are enjoying playing in Manchester this season, aren’t they?
GOAL! Manchester City 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Porro 53)
Pep will be rubbing his head even harder now. Kulusevski picks the ball up deep in his own half, beating three men before one-twoing with Son and tearing off down the left. His long cross finds Solanke on the other flank. Solanke enters the box and cuts back for Porro, who lashes an unstoppable shot across Ederson and into the top left!
51 min: Pep Guardiola sits on the bench looking downcast, rubbing his head pensively.
49 min: According to Sky, because I’ve certainly not had the time to do the counting, City are currently 52 matches unbeaten at the Etihad. A lot resting on this second half.
47 min: A strangulated chorus of “We’re not really here”. It’s a City song, but you wouldn’t blame Spurs fans for co-opting it right now. “Could you ask the non-golfer David Howell if he is the chess grandmaster David Howell?” asks David (not Howell) Gardner.
Manchester City get the second half started. They’ve replaced John Stones, whose return from injury has lasted just one half of football, with Nathan Aké.
Half-time letters (all, in a very strange coincidence, from readers with famous namesakes). “How in the world is James Maddison 28? He’s had the ‘promising youngster’ tag for absolutely ages. Is he still promising or has he reached his peak?” – Andy (not the cricketer) Flintoff
“City is not balanced on the wing, that is why they are being over run. Doku needs to be in to peg back their wing backs. Gundogan needs to be switched out and Nunes in, he has more dynamic power going forward, he is closer to Rodri than Gundo at the moment. Also I would give Haaland a rest. He misses too many easy chances. Let him marinate and come back hungry” – Kirk (not the actor) Douglas
“This title race really does look like 2019-20 all over again, Which is a terrifying thought, not because I’m not a Liverpool fan, but because parallels to five years ago makes articles like this one even scarier” – David (not the golfer) Howell
“I know what’s really going on here. City’s highly-paid advisors have out-thought the leaden-footed conventional-bound Premier League. If City are convicted of those 115 charges, a punishment of relegation would be moot if they are already demoted, so they will fail to win another game this season, as a kind of situationist jazz happening. City are playing 3-D Chess yet again. Everything connects, Scott. Everything. Connects” – Paul (not the guy who played piano on Bob Dylan’s classic mid-60s trilogy Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde) Griffin
Some much-needed succour for the champions here. Since the start of last season, according to a graphic flashed up by Sky Sports, no team has recovered more points from losing positions than Manchester City. That probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but there it is nonetheless.
37: Manchester City
34: Tottenham Hotspur
32: Liverpool
29: Aston Villa
HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
City started fast … then came off the rails. Or more accurately, were barged off them by some sensational Spurs attacking. City are staring down the barrel of a fifth straight defeat in all competitions, though both teams will doubtlessly be thinking about this …
… so don’t go anywhere. Huge second half coming up!
45 min +2: City are getting frustrated. Walker upends Maddison down the left and then, a free kick conceded, considers slamming the ball into the ground. He thinks twice, just in time.
45 min: … Akanji harmlessly heads behind. There will be three additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Gvardiol nearly beats Dragusin in a footrace down the left. Not quite, but his presence is enough to win a corner. From which …
43 min: Son has the chance to shoot from just inside the box, but over-thinks things and another chance is gone. City go up the other end, Silva advancing down the left and crossing, Foden scissoring a fine effort over the bar from 12 yards.
42 min: Silva gives the ball away. City have been so careless in possession … which is a very strange thing to be able to type. Kulusevski tees up Bissouma, who lashes a wild effort high over the bar.
41 min: Vicario is back up and ready to go.
39 min: Vicario goes down again, holding his ankle. On comes the physio.
37 min: Porro deals with a long ball down the middle by heading backwards towards his keeper. Not quite enough power. Savinho nearly nips in, but Vicario claims on the edge of the box, before being clattered by the City attacker. A free kick, nothing more. Savinho was entitled to challenge for that loose ball.
36 min: Savinho sends a drive towards the bottom left from distance. Easy enough for Vicario.
35 min: City probe patiently again. But to no avail. Kulusevski attempts a counter down the left before running the ball out of play. He doesn’t give it back immediately to Silva, who rather petulantly nibbles at his ankles. A fussier referee might have booked both players, but this one merely waves play on dismissively. “It looks like Pep is playing midfield wannabes in midfield as well,” quips Yash Gupta.
33 min: The harum-scarum pace and shape of this game is suiting Spurs. City decide to take things down a notch or two with some sterile domination. The patient probing leads to a free kick out on the right, near the corner flag. Foden sails the set piece over everyone’s head in the middle. Goal kick. But that’s better from City, who it’s now easy to forget, looked totally on it during the first ten minutes or so. Now, not so much.
31 min: Gvardiol crosses from the left. Savinho connects with a flying header, the ball heading towards the top-left corner. Vicario turns it around the post, then the flag goes up correctly for offside. Savinho – and Haaland – were both miles off. Neither had reason to be.
29 min: Spurs flood forward again. This time Son slips a ball down the inside-left channel for Solanke, who takes a touch infield before sending a shot towards the top-right corner. It’s deflected out for a corner, from which nothing comes. Now it’s City who can’t keep on like this. Now it’s Spurs for whom a goal looks simply a matter of time. Funny old game, as Tottenham’s greatest-ever striker once opined.
28 min: It’s not often you can say this without sounding totally preposterous, but City’s midfield is being over-run. Spurs tear through it en masse again, Kulusevski advancing down the right and cutting back, intending to find Son. The Spurs captain is back on his heels, so Akanji is on point to clear.
27 min: Gvardiol looks much better going forward, and he fizzes a low diagonal pass into the Spurs box from the left. Foden picks it up and lashes a first-time shot across Vicario, the keeper’s feet planted, but the ball sails wide right.
25 min: Maddison’s deep corner is punched clear confidently by Ederson. “Looks like Pep didn’t get a chance to read the Ange interview you quoted at 12.16 EST,” writes Jonathan Dugdale. “He’s obviously spotted that Pep doesn’t bother with real left-backs, just dumping centrebacks or midfield wannabes there.”
24 min: Another Spurs attack. Son sashays past Walker down the left with ease. His low cross hacked out at the near stick by Akanji. Maddison to take.
22 min: This is quite something. City looked in the mood to steamroller Spurs in the opening ten minutes. But Spurs got away with their cold start, and have sprung into life in sensational style! City try to respond, Silva advancing down the left and cutting back for Haaland, who slams a shot over the bar from 12 yards. There could be many more goals in this absurd, wonderfully entertaining game.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Maddison 20)
It’s James Maddison’s 28th birthday today, and he’s having a party. City give the ball away again, Gvardiol playing a poor blind pass in from the right touchline. Maddison snaffles, then rolls across to Son, who holds up the ball on the edge of the area. Maddison has continued running diagonally, and Son finds him with a return down the inside left. Maddison squares up to Ederson and dinks over the keeper and in. Wow!
19 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner. In the interests of balance, the current scoreline in the aforementioned parallel universe is now 3-3.
18 min: Tottenham suddenly look a different team, and the concern from the City fans is palpable. Some mutterings as they ship possession to Son, 30 yards out. Son opens his body and sends a glorious curler towards the top right. It’s heading in, but Ederson fingertips around the post.
17 min: Son curls a low cross into the box from the left. City are fortunate Kulusevski is on his heels, because had he committed to his run down the middle, he’d be slamming home from six yards. A two-goal lead for Spurs at this point would have been simply wild.
16 min: City clearly aren’t going to let this lie, and Foden reaches for a loose ball to the left of the Spurs D before toe-poking an improvised effort over the bar. A bit lower and either side of the keeper, and Vicario would have had no chance.
15 min: That was a fine goal. Not the greatest defending by Gvardiol, mind you. Perhaps his head’s still spinning after the runaround Ben Doak gave him at Hampden last week.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Maddison 13)
Well this scoreline is absolutely absurd! City could easily be two or three up, but they’re trailing! Kulusevski brushes off Gvardiol down the right. He cuts back before curling a sensational cross over the stranded Stones and towards Maddison, who sidefoots the dropping ball into the bottom left. What a goal! What a weird game football can be sometimes!
11 min: Savinho turns gracefully into space down the left, leaving an over-committed Dragusin flummoxed, and finds Haaland on the penalty spot. Haaland takes a first-time swipe towards the bottom right. Vicario kicks clear. Another huge chance for Haaland, though he was denied by some excellent goalkeeping this time.
10 min: Spurs launch their first attack, Son advancing down the left and whistling a dangerous pass across the face of the six-yard box. But there’s nobody else in white up with play, and Akanji calmly lets the ball through.
9 min: Gundogan shovels a pass down the middle and nearly finds Foden in the middle. Spurs swarm and hack clear, but they can’t keep on like this. Already it feels like a City goal is merely a matter of time.
8 min: Silva nearly finds Walker in the box down the right with a diagonal wedged pass, but there’s too much juice on the ball. Goal kick, though Walker looked offside anyway. Had he managed to extend a leg and divert the pass into the goal, VAR would surely have chalked it off.
6 min: Another corner for City, this time swung in by Gundogan from the left. Maddison manages to get it clear, and the ball is soon back at the feet of Ederson, which qualifies as a minor victory for Spurs, the way both teams have started.
5 min: Nothing comes of the corner. In a parallel universe, Haaland already has two goals to his name this evening.
4 min: City should be leading, and again Haaland is at fault for not putting his side ahead. Gvardiol slips a pass down the inside-right channel and Haaland is free! Simple as that! But his first touch is poor and the time he needs to dig the ball back out from under his feet allows Davies to come across and block the eventual shot out for a corner.
3 min: Gvardiol crosses from the left for Haaland, who strangely doesn’t go for goal from his position on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. His header back across the face is cleared. But this is a fast start by City. Spurs have barely had a touch since that kick-off fiasco.
2 min: Gundogan sends the resulting free kick towards the far stick. Akanji is unable to turn it goalwards. Goal kick.
Spurs get the ball rolling … and lose it within seconds. Foden advances down the right and Bissouma cynically clips him from behind. The tackle on 12 seconds, the booking on 16. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Yves!
Rodri may be missing from the Manchester City line-up, but he’s in the house tonight. The main Etihad lights are dimmed and the influential midfielder comes onto the pitch, kissing his Ballon d’Or before raising it to the sky in front of tall lights that spell out RODRI in Elvis ‘68 Comeback Special style. And then the teams come out, City in blue, Spurs in white. We’ll be off in a minute.
Ange Postecoglou talks to Sky. “A lot of internationals are coming back … Madders has been training with us and is probably one of the fresher ones … we’re mindful of the fact we’re going to have to have a little of the ball today … start well that way … Brennan will play a huge part when he comes on … when you play City, if you give them too much of the ball they’ll cause you problems … we’ll probably move Kulusevski wide … he’s done well against City in that area.”
Pep Guardiola is asked by Sky Sports whether his new contract will give his team a positive boost. “Positivity depends on the way we play … it is how you have to perform … winning games … we have had many injuries … many are now coming back which is good news for us … it is nice to see players available to play.”
He’s also asked who will take up the Rodri role in the Ballon’ d’Or winner’s absence now Mateo Kovačić is out for a month. Rico Lewis? Pep smiles enigmatically. “You will see it.”
The 3pm kick-offs have finished, and it’s getting tight at the top. Arsenal have beaten Nottingham Forest 3-0 while Brighton won 2-1 at Bournemouth. Throw in Chelsea’s earlier 2-1 victory at Leicester, and the chasing pack are closing in on second-placed City. Meanwhile ten-man Brentford’s staunch goalless draw at Everton pushes Spurs into the bottom half of the table, for a couple of hours at least.
Manchester City make three changes in the wake of their 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion. John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji are back in; Matheus Nunes and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey drop to the bench, while Mateo Kovačić is absent through injury.
Tottenham also make three changes after their 2-1 loss against Ipswich Town. James Maddison, Yves Bissouma and Ben Davies return to the starting XI, with Brennan Johnson dropping to the bench, Cristian Romero injured, and Rodrigo Bentancur suspended.
The teams
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Lewis, Gundogan, Silva, Savinho, Foden, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Ake, Grealish, De Bruyne, Nunes, Wright, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly, McAtee.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Maddison, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke.
Subs: Forster, Spence, Hardy, Gray, Bergvall, Olusesi, Johnson, Werner, Lankshear.
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Michael Salisbury
Preamble
We’ve just had an international break, and yet it feels like these two never went away. They’ve hardly been out of the news all week: Pep Guardiola with his new two-year extension to his Manchester City contract, Spurs dealing with the Bentancur Imbroglio. In that sense there’s more of a feel-good vibe around City right now … but then Spurs have only lost their last two matches, while City have lost their last four. Six and two threes.
Thing is, lads, look, listen mate, it’s Dr Tottenham, they’ve found themselves in this sort of state before; City, in their modern guise, not so often. Pep not at all. So it’s going to be interesting to watch the gilded champions attempt to bounce back. They don’t particularly enjoy playing Spurs, either, and that’s not even 1981 FA Cup final-infused DNA: Spurs beat City’s reserve team last month in the League Cup, while dealing them last-minute blows on two of their last three visits to the Etihad, here and here. Those two matches were sandwiched by this one, to be fair, and that’ll be the peg on which City today hang their hat. All of which is a long-winded way of saying, this could be great fun, because recent history – and indeed both matches of that epic 1981 clash – suggests pretty much anything could happen. Kick-off is at 5.30pm GMT. It’s on!
