Manchester City’s losing run stretched to five games on Saturday as Tottenham Hotspur came away from the Etihad with an incredible 4-0 win.
It’s a run that ends City’s long unbeaten run at home - that had been in place since before the 2022 World Cup - and is an alarming escalation of the champions’ underwhelming campaign to date.
City had hoped for an immediate post-international break bounce and with several key players back from injury and the club basking in the news of Pep Guardiola’s recent contract extension - a return to winning ways felt entirely possible. Rodri’s return with his Ballon d’Or trophy - accompanied by a pre-match light show and video montage - certainly whipped up the home fans ahead of the game.
And it seemed to translate to the players in the early stages, with City demonstrating the sort of poise and penetration that has been often missing without Rodri this season. Erling Haaland twice went close in the opening 12 minutes, the latter stopped via an excellent save from the feet of Guglielmo Vicario.
It proved to be a pivotal moment as a minute later the visitors went ahead. Josko Gvardiol failed to deal with a ball into the wide areas and Dejan Kulusevski pounced. The Swede’s excellent cross was tapped in by James Maddison at the back post after Ilkay Gundogan failed to track his run.
The goal changed the momentum in the game. Suddenly there were misplaced passes, a buzz of irritation around the ground as Spurs began to move the ball with greater confidence. Ederson had to be on hand to keep out Heung-min Son’s curled effort, but two minutes later had to again frustratedly pick the ball out of his goal.
It was Maddison with a second after another Gvardiol error. This time he mindlessly passed inside and ceded possession in his own half. Maddison intercepted, laid the ball to Son, who then slipped it back into the former Leicester City man’s path before he sublimely clipped it over Ederson.
An inability to defend cohesively has been a recurring theme this season, as has City’s unwanted habit of failing to convert chances. Phil Foden poked over after some neat build-up, Haaland curled off target and Savinho saw a low driven effort saved, but there was no breakthrough strike before the break.
Two seasons ago City had trailed by the same scoreline at the break but came back to win. There was no repeat this time around. When the next goal came, it Spurs who netted after they again sprinted in behind the City backline, and Dominc Solanke laid the ball back for Pedro Porro to smash beyond Ederson.
City were shell-shocked, the drive and determination had left a side renowned for producing spirited displays. Haaland hit the bar but it was the only real chance of note City produced in the the first 30 minutes of the second period. It was Spurs who carried the threat; Ederson denied Kulusevski with a superb stop in the 66th minute.
City did liven up in the latter stages with Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Haaland creating scoring opportunities - none of which were converted. Instead, it was Spurs who got another. This time Timo Werner flew down the City right and tapped it across for Brennan Johnson to score the simplest of tap-ins.
It was a day to forget for Guardiola and raises serious questions about this side’s ability to challenge for the title this season. Here’s how we rated the City players...