Manchester City faced a daunting trip to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, who overpowered the leaders with a dynamic performance.
Both sides got off to a good start in the tie as the in form Son Heung-min blasted wide for Spurs before City had a chance of their own as David Silva failed to get enough onto a flicked effort.
Spurs surged into the lead after just nine minutes as Aleksandar Kolarov failed to get enough onto a dangerous back-post cross, deflecting it into his own net.
Spurs were putting City under severe pressure as Son continued to cause problems, forcing City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo into a save after 13 minutes. Christian Eriksen then whipped a free kick narrowly wide seven minutes later as City struggled to find their rhythm.
With City finally starting to settle into their possession game Sergio Aguero forced a save from Hugo Lloris. But a dynamic Spurs were not to be contained for long as Dele Alli’s late run and finish off a Son pass put the side two goals to the good. There proved to be no more chances in the first-half action as a series of offsides saw several moves break down.
Spurs continued to take the game City in the second period as Victor Wanyama and Son had early chances before Moussa Sissoko fired just wide on the 50 minute mark, with City visibly struggling to contain Spurs’ fluency.
City came close in the 52nd minute as Aguero rifled a quickly-taken shot against the post following a great ball from Fernandinho before the Brazilian himself wasted a chance as he hammered volley wide.
Eriksen had another chance just short of the hour mark as his curled effort was well saved by Bravo before Spurs were awarded a penalty as Fernandinho felled Kyle Walker. Erik Lamela stepped up but his effort was comfortably saved.
With little over 15 minutes left in the game Lloris was forced into another fine save as he denied Kelechi Iheanacho before Ilkay Gundogan fired over the bar. Lloris was then called into action yet again to deny Aguero as City pushed hard to get back into the game.
In the end there proved to be no joy for the league leaders as Spurs brought their unbeaten record to an end with a hard fought 2-0 victory.
Photo: Premier League Website
