Premier League

It was meant to be a day of celebration but as Storm Bert made its way through England, Tottenham Hotspur blew away Manchester City's hopes and ambitions by beating them 4-0 - their heaviest Premier League defeat in SEVEN years.

The shock result also ended the champions' 35-match unbeaten run at home in the competition.

Ahead of kick-off, the Etihad Stadium celebrated the Ballon d’Or being awarded to Rodri, with fireworks and the floodlights dimmed as their injured Spanish midfielder and his trophy were paraded.

The pre-match mood of optimism was further enhanced by this week's announcement of Pep Guardiola's new contract, ending speculation that he might leave in the summer, something he admitted he had considered.

He said the club’s four-match losing run was a spur for him to stay on and turn around their fortunes. But that job just became bigger, as Spurs stunned the home crowd.

Ange Postecoglou's side went 2-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes, through James Maddison's brilliant brace, before doubling their advantage in the second half with goals from Pedro Porro and finally, in stoppage time, Brennan Johnson.

The result means that Liverpool can extend their lead over City to eight points if they beat 20th-placed Southampton tomorrow.

And it could then get even worse for Guardiola's men - if they lose their next Premier League match, at Anfield on 1 December, the champions could be 11 points behind their opponents.

Man City's next five fixtures

What Guardiola said

"In this moment we are fragile defensively. We started really well as normal but we could not score and then after that we conceded. After that, we conceded some more which is difficult for our emotions right now.

"In eight years we have never lived this kind of situation. Now we have to live it and break it by winning the next games, especially the next one. Now we see things in one way, maybe in a few weeks we will see it differently.

"Of course [the players are struggling]. We are happy when we win and concerned when we don't win. It's normal. There would be a problem if they were not worried or I am not worried.

"We are not used to this situation but life is like this. Sometimes it happens and we have to accept it. It is what it is now and we will stand up and do it.

"The fire is when you win a lot of games, which is better than when you are losing, but we accept this. We have to move forward and break it and try.

"Yeah, in terms of Liverpool winning and winning, it’s true [that defeat at Anfield would end Man City's title hopes]. We’re not thinking about winning or losing [the title]. We are not in the situation to think about what is going to happen at the end of the season."

Stats behind Saturday's shock scoreline

Man City are the first reigning English top-flight champions to lose five games in a row in all competitions since Chelsea in March 1956.

City have lost five consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since April 2006 under Stuart Pearce, and three in a row in the Premier League for the first time since March 2016 when Manuel Pellegrini was their manager.

This was City’s heaviest home defeat in any competition since February 2003 (1-5 v Arsenal at Maine Road).

City were three games away from achieving the third-longest unbeaten home run in Premier League history, behind only Chelsea's 86 matches between March 2004 and October 2008, and Liverpool's 68 from May 2017 to January 2021.

It was City's first defeat at the Etihad Stadium since they lost to Brentford in the Premier League in November 2022, ending their longest ever unbeaten run at home in all competitions (52 games).

City had 23 shots in this game to no avail, their most in a Premier League game they failed to score in since a 2-0 loss to Man Utd in March 2021 (also 23 shots).

This was just the third time a team has won away against the reigning Premier League champions by 4+ goals, with Spurs responsible for two of those (also Man Utd 1-6 Man City in 2011, Leicester City 1-6 Spurs in 2017).

Spurs are Guardiola's nemesis. Including seven in the Premier League, they have inflicted nine defeats on Pep in all competitions, more than any other opponent. Liverpool, who City face next, have beaten him eight times so far.

Guardiola lost a home game by four goals for just the second time in his managerial career - at Bayern Munich, he lost 0-4 against Real Madrid in April 2014.

It is Guardiola's joint-biggest loss as a manager, his fourth defeat by four goals.

Guardiola has conceded 2+ goals in five straight games for the first time as a manager; this 4-0 defeat follows 2-1 losses to Spurs (EFL Cup), Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion, and the 4-1 reverse to Sporting (UEFA Champions League).

When Porro scored for Spurs in the 52nd minute, it was the first time City had been 3-0 down at home in a Premier League game since February 2016 v Leicester, under Pellegrini.

Alex Keble analyses Tottenham Hotspur's sensational 4-0 win against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

An extraordinary performance from Tottenham Hotspur condemned Manchester City to their fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions and spoiled the atmosphere on what was supposed to be a celebratory day at the Etihad.

The news of Pep Guardiola’s new two-year contract extension was expected to lift spirits, but by full-time Spurs had become just the latest team to show Man City have taken a step backwards in Rodri’s absence.

It was in central midfield that again City fell short. James Maddison ran the show, and although Erling Haaland had enough chances to change the narrative – seven shots in total for an Expected Goals (xG) tally of 2.15 – the visitors thoroughly deserved their win.

“Since the first season Guardiola arrived I’ve not seen them as bad as this,” was Gary Neville’s take on Sky Sports. It’s hard to argue with that assessment.

Here, Alex Keble analyses how Spurs tactically outclassed Man City.

Maddison takes charge in two different phases

Spurs were brave and aggressive in their attempts to pierce through midfield while Man City were passive in typical Rodri-less fashion: that is the broad overview of how and why Spurs dominated this game.

Nobody exemplified the difference between the two sides more than Maddison, who was magnificent on his return to first-team action - in two different phases of play.

First, his runs from deep challenged the City defence and led to the opening goal, a superb cross from Dejan Kulusevski that rewarded Ange Postecoglou’s decision to move the Swede back out to the right and accommodate Maddison centrally.

Maddison revealed to Sky Sports after the game that he’d told Kulusevski to look for him in those moments, knowing that the City midfielders would not know whether to track his “left half-space” runs.

From a City perspective, it’s hard to imagine Rodri letting Maddison go as Ilkay Gundogan did.

Picking Maddison, a player always likely to make those runs, was an attacking risk from Postecoglou that quickly – and persistently - paid off.

After the opener, before which City had raced out of the blocks and put Spurs under pressure, City began to wane in energy and dropped a little deeper.

This is when Maddison took charge in a second way, coming short to dictate the tempo brilliantly.

It was his crisp passing through the lines that pinned Man City; that caused the hesitation that led to City giving the ball away in their own third and Maddison – again running from deep – scoring the second.

Maddison had 64 touches of the ball and made 45 passes, dictating the tempo centrally and in the final third until City were chasing shadows.

City again lose midfield battle and struggle with Guardiola’s system

The main reason Spurs overwhelmed City for the first hour and stormed into a 3-0 lead was a numerical advantage in the middle of the park.

The sharp (and, again, brave) interplay between Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr, Maddison, and a dropping Dominic Solanke was just too much for Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, two midfielders who lack the defensive clout of a Rodri.

But the difference was also the result of Guardiola’s unusual starting formation.

Rico Lewis began on the right wing in front of Kyle Walker and these two players couldn’t handle Son Heung-min and Destiny Udogie, with Lewis in particular caught between his right-wing responsibilities and the expectation he would slip into central midfield.

Meanwhile Silva and Gundogan pressed sporadically in the middle and, half relying on Lewis, seemed a little unsure of how to play.

But the biggest issue was fielding Phil Foden and Savinho as inside forwards behind Haaland, crowding the middle and leaving Walker and Gvardiol (circled) to hold all the width.

In the first half Walker, with 38 touches, and Gvardiol (39) had the fourth and third-most touches of any player on the pitch, frequently in the final third, frequently unmarked, and frequently harmless.

Guardiola had created a system that meant the only players with space to create were two full-backs.

Worse still, it was this narrow attacking system that led to Spurs’ first goal, when Kulusevski had room to cross because the inverting winger Savinho couldn’t get back in time.

Guardiola’s half-time swap too late

Noticing the above issues, Guardiola made big changes at the break.

Lewis was moved into central midfield, to help shore up the holes that had been appearing and create a more “normal” midfield box, while Savinho was moved into a wide-right position to do more with the space Walker had been finding.

Unfortunately for City, Spurs broke to score a third goal within seven minutes of the second half (thanks, in no small part, to Kulusevski dancing through a Rodri-less midfield) and the new plan fell apart.

The third goal was the signal for Spurs’ change of approach, which meant Guardiola’s tactical switches were counteracting a state of play that no longer existed.

In other words, he reacted too late.

Following the third goal Spurs held 30 per cent possession and had four shots to Man City’s 13: they sat deep, blocked the middle, dug in brilliantly in a compressed 4-5-1 formation, and even countered to add a fourth.

For that, Postecoglou deserves huge credit. His team have been criticised in the past for failing to shut games down and for playing emotionally when calm heads are needed.

That is not what happened here, and again Maddison led by example.

He made two tackles and two blocks in the second period, working tirelessly to help his side keep an unlikely clean sheet.

So, by full-time it wasn’t two phases that Maddison had dominated but three.

He was the standout performer on a perfect night for Spurs, playing in a way that typifies the joyful philosophy behind “Ange-ball”.

“It’s special,” Maddison told Sky Sports after the game. “These are the days you remember. It’s important you enjoy it”.

Tim Sherwood says the stunning 4-0 away win at Man City can be a platform for Spurs winning a trophy under Ange Postecoglou

Manchester City's losing streak stretched to five games as Tottenham Hotspur stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.

On his 28th birthday, James Maddison scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Ange Postecoglou's visitors caught out their hosts on the counter-attack.

City dominated possession but struggled to find a killer pass, and their hopes of a second-half fightback were dashed when Pedro Porro – who spent three years as a City player between 2019 and 2022 – capped another lightning break.

Erling Haaland clipped the crossbar but that was as close as City came to making it competitive, with Brennan Johnson completing the rout as the worst run of Pep Guardiola's managerial career continued.

Second-placed City could now find themselves eight points adrift of the summit after Liverpool’s trip to Southampton on Sunday, while Spurs climbed to sixth, four points further back.

How the match unfolded

Guglielmo Vicario denied Haaland early on before Maddison stunned the Etihad Stadium in the 13th minute, arriving unmarked at the far post to prod Dejan Kulusevski's cross home.

The birthday boy had his second seven minutes later, intercepting Josko Gvardiol's wayward ball before exchanging passes with Son Heung-min and dinking his finish over Ederson.

Ederson tipped Dominic Solanke's shot over at full stretch as the visitors threatened a third, while Vicario dashed from his line to smother Savinho's lob shortly before half-time.

Seven minutes after the interval, the visitors had further daylight thanks to Porro, who lashed into the top-left corner after being teed up by Solanke on the break.

Haaland then rattled the crossbar after latching upon an error in the Spurs backline, but City were sliced open again in stoppage time.

Timo Werner drove beyond Kyle Walker before teeing up fellow substitute Brennan Johnson for an easy finish.

Rodri-less City struggle once again

Ahead of kick-off, the Etihad Stadium paid tribute to stricken star Rodri with an elaborate ceremony to mark his Ballon d'Or win.

Never has his influence over City's midfield been more obvious. With the Spaniard sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament injury, City have lost five successive matches across all competitions, with their title defence threatening to unravel before the festive season is in full swing.

It is the longest losing run of Guardiola's managerial career, and not been the way he would have wanted to celebrate the contract extension he agreed earlier in the week.

Rodri's ability to snuff out opposition attacks at source and maintain control of the midfield has been central to City's game since he arrived in Manchester five years ago. Without him, the champions struggled to deal with Spurs’ counter.

Porro's goal in particular will have been tough to take. Kulusevski had plenty of space on the left-hand side as he latched onto Son's pass before sweeping the ball out to Solanke. Porro was then unmarked as he stepped onto the striker's cutback to fire home.

City's lack of a like-for-like Rodri replacement will be a point of concern for them ahead of a blockbuster clash with Liverpool at Anfield next.

Scintillating Spurs bounce back

Spurs’ performance here was night and day compared to that of their failed approach in their 2-1 defeat at home to Ipswich Town before the international break.

When allowed space to play on the counter-attack at the Etihad Stadium, they produced some of their most dazzling football under Postecoglou to date.

The individual skills of Spurs' attackers were on full display, from Kulusevski's wonderful delivery for Maddison's opener, to the blistering pace shown by Werner in the build-up to the fourth.

Spurs have earned a reputation as a thorn in City's side in recent years, winning three of four matches against them across 2021/22 and 2022/23, then fighting back to secure a memorable 3-3 draw in this exact fixture last season.

This was surely the most convincing they have ever looked against City, though.

Saturday's result will have provided a much-needed boost for fans, players and the manager alike ahead of tricky fixtures against Fulham, Bournemouth and Chelsea in December.

Club reports

Man City report | Spurs report

Next five PL fixtures

Key facts

Pep Guardiola lost a home game by four goals for just the second time in his managerial career (also 0-4 v Real Madrid in April 2014 with Bayern) with this Manchester City’s heaviest home defeat in any competition since February 2003 (1-5 v Arsenal at Maine Road).

Tottenham Hotspur (1-2 v Ipswich, 3-0 today) are the second team in Premier League history to lose at home to a promoted side in one match, then beat the reigning champions away in the next after Liverpool in December 2000 (0-1 v Ipswich, 1-0 v Man Utd).

Only Wayne Rooney (6) and Jamie Vardy (5) have scored more Premier League goals at the Etihad Stadium as a visiting player than Tottenham Hotspur’s James Maddison (4), who scored the earliest-ever brace away from home against the reigning Premier League champions (20th minute).

Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol created eight chances from open play today against Tottenham, the most ever on record in a Premier League game by a defender (since 2003-04).

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven matches by The Football Association (FA) and fined £100,000 for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.

The 27-year-old’s domestic suspension will begin on Saturday 23 November when Spurs visit Manchester City, and he will miss six Premier League matches, plus the EFL Cup quarter-final against Manchester United on Thursday 19 December.

An FA statement said: "It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin."

Spurs' next six PL fixtures

Bentancur will next be available in the Premier League on Boxing Day, when Spurs visit Nottingham Forest.

However, Bentancur will be available in play in the UEFA Europa League, so he can face Roma at home on Thursday 28 November and make the trip to take on Rangers on Thursday 12 December.

The Uruguayan will certainly be missed, having started seven of Spurs' 11 Premier League matches this season and made three appearances as a substitute. He has played 14 times in all competitions.

He also scored their last goal, heading in against Ipswich Town in the 2-1 home defeat on 10 November.

Ipswich Town claimed a shock 2-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur to end their wait for a first Premier League win of the season.

Sam Szmodics opened the scoring for the visitors with an acrobatic finish just past the half-hour mark before Liam Delap doubled Ipswich’s advantage prior to the interval.

Spurs, who saw a Dominic Solanke goal disallowed for handball early in the second half, were handed a lifeline when Rodrigo Bentancur headed in from a corner to cut the deficit in the 69th minute.

Solanke had a great chance to restore parity in stoppage time, but Arijanet Muric made a fantastic stop as Ipswich held on for a memorable triumph, securing their first win in the Premier League since April 2002.

It is a victory that takes Kieran McKenna’s side up to 17th, while Spurs are 10th, with 16 points from their 11 matches.

How the match unfolded

Ipswich set the tone early on as Szmodics forced a save out of Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario inside two minutes before Cameron Burgess rattled the crossbar from a corner.

And the visitors took a deserved lead in the 31st minute when Jens Cajuste’s cross hit Delap and hung in the air for an unmarked Szmodics to finish with a well-timed overhead kick.

Szmodics played a part in Ipswich’s second as his cross was parried by Vicario and the ball rebounded off Radu Dragusin, and Delap was on hand to prod in his sixth league goal of the season.

Solanke thought he had dragged Spurs back into it in the 49th minute, but his goal was overturned following a VAR review because he had kicked the ball on to his hand while shooting.

Bentancur thumped in a header from Pedro Porro’s corner, but with Muric in sharp form between the sticks, Ipswich held firm to finally get their season up and running.

Tractor Boys get that long overdue win

The pressure was on for Ipswich after fellow strugglers Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton all got their first wins of the season in recent weeks.

But Ipswich pulled off one of the shock results of the season so far and will now hope to build on the momentum after the international break, as McKenna enjoyed a happy return to the club where he came through the academy and began his coaching career (below, left) almost a decade ago.

The Ipswich boss was without the services of suspended Kalvin Phillips and brought Axel Tuanzebe and Cajuste into the line-up and he was rewarded when the latter's cross led to his side's opener.

McKenna’s side have now shipped 22 goals following Bentancur’s header, but they defended in numbers late on and restricted their opponents to very few clear chances.

They will next host Manchester United at Portman Road in Ruben Amorim's first match in charge of the Red Devils and will fancy their chances of giving the Portuguese a tough welcome to the Premier League.

Spurs falter, again

Spurs delivered an impressive performance in beating Aston Villa last week, but questions about their consistency have lingered this season.

Indeed, they had fallen behind in their last two home league outings, but fought back to claim 4-1 wins over West Ham United and Villa respectively.

And there was to be no such comeback this time around, as Spurs’ faltering form continued.

They have now lost three fixtures when coming off the back of midweek outings in the UEFA Europa League and Ange Postecoglou’s team just could not get going after defeat to Galatasaray in Istanbul on Thursday.

The Spurs head coach had kept his trust in the same 11 that fought back against Villa, but this is a worrying patch of form for Postecoglou, and his team will need to rediscover some consistency if he is to deliver UEFA Champions League football this season.

Club reports

Spurs report | Ipswich report

What the managers said

Kieran Mckenna: "It's a massive, significant moment. A day to cherish in the recent history,” McKenna told Sky Sports.

"The journey the club has been on - the highs and the depths. For the fans to see their club in the Premier League and win in a stadium like this is a massive day. Where the club was two years ago to now competing in the Premier League. A significant landmark."

Next Premier League fixtures

Key facts

Guglielmo Vicario made his 25th home start for Tottenham Hotspur today in the Premier League. Across those 25 starts, Vicario has kept just three clean sheets, the joint-fewest by any Spurs keeper across their first 25 home starts in the competition, along with Ian Walker.

Today’s victory was Ipswich’s first in the Premier League since a 1-0 win vs Middlesborough in April 2002, as well as their first away win in the competition since beating Everton at Goodison Park in February 2002, ending a run of 12 away matches in the competition without a win (D3 L9).

Since the start of last season, Sam Szmodics has scored 31 league goals across his spells with Blackburn Rovers and now Ipswich Town, with only Manchester City's Erling Haaland (39) scoring more than him across England's top four tiers.

The Scout is tipping five players for big success in Gameweek 11 of 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League ahead of Saturday's 13:30 GMT deadline.

Dominic Solanke (Spurs) £7.7m

Although it may seem somewhat reactive to be tipping the Tottenham Hotspur forward after his season-high haul of 16 points last weekend, a delve into the data suggests Solanke still has room for improvement over the course of the campaign.

In his final season for AFC Bournemouth in 2023/24, he had 28 big chances – situations in which the player is expected to score. He converted 14 of them – or 50 per cent – on his way to scoring 19 goals.

This season, Solanke has had 10 big chances and scored four of them, which suggests he can improve upon this 40 per cent return if he gets back to his form of 2023/24.

Crucially, Spurs are also ensuring their frontman is being supplied with big chances at a far quicker rate than last season. Solanke is averaging a big chance every 70.7 minutes for Ange Postecoglou’s side, an improvement on his average of 115.1 minutes at Bournemouth last season.

A home encounter with Ipswich Town this weekend gives Solanke the chance to immediately get more goals and, although Spurs then visit Manchester City in Gameweek 12, matches against Fulham and Bournemouth in the following Gameweeks lift the short-term appeal of their attackers.

Alejandro Garnacho (Man Utd) £6.3m

The Manchester United winger will be hoping history repeats itself when he entertains Leicester City this weekend.

Garnacho produced a goal and an assist in the same fixture only just last week, in the Red Devils' 5-2 EFL Cup win over the Foxes.

Certainly, the Argentinian has the goal threat to punish his opponents again. Over the last four Gameweeks, Garnacho’s 18 shots and 13 shots in the box are both team-leading totals.

Man Utd also face Ipswich and Everton in the next three Gameweeks, giving Garnacho the chance to make his mark under their new head coach Ruben Amorim.

Antonee Robinson (Fulham) £4.7m

Fulham’s left-back has the short-term schedule to continue his fine attacking form this season.

According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), three of the Cottagers’ next four matches – against Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion – score only two.

Robinson visits the Eagles this weekend having supplied his third assist of the campaign against Brentford in the last Gameweek.

That’s already half of his total of six assists from 2023/24, while the same can be said for his bonus points – the US international has four of them already, compared with eight last season.

If Marco Silva’s side can profit from their schedule and improve upon their tally of just one clean sheet, Robinson can offer multiple routes to returns in the coming period.

Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) £7.5m

The West Ham United star’s improving home form looks ominous for Everton this weekend.

Bowen has amassed 19 points across his last two encounters at the London Stadium, thanks to two goals and an assist. That includes strikes against both Ipswich and Man Utd.

The underlying numbers show his major all-round influence on the Hammers’ attack in home matches.

Bowen’s 11 key passes are more than twice that of any team-mate, while his 12 shots and 10 shots in the box both place second.

Everton’s struggles in defence, meanwhile, further add to the West Ham midfielder’s appeal. They have just a single clean sheet in five away matches, conceding nine goals.

Josko Gvardiol (Man City) £6.2m

Three goals in his last five matches have taken the Man City star to 49 points this season, placing him second in the defender standings.

Gvardiol’s improved output has also coincided with Rodri's (£6.3m) injury, with manager Pep Guardiola affording the defender greater licence to be involved in his side’s attacks.

Although he’s yet to get an assist, Gvardiol’s creativity has improved markedly in the five matches without Rodri. He has made eight key passes in the last five Gameweeks, compared with only two in the first five.

Despite Man City’s poor run of two clean sheets in the first 10 Gameweeks, Gvardiol sits just a single point off Virgil van Dijk (£6.2m) at the top of the defender standings.

If Guardiola’s side can rediscover their defensive form, Gvardiol could become the most fixture-proof option for managers’ defences over the remainder of the campaign.

James Maddison enjoyed a milestone moment as he reached a half-century of Premier League goals in Tottenham Hotspur's 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

On his 201st appearance in the competition, Maddison came off the bench to curl in a superb free-kick in stoppage time to seal an impressive comeback victory.

It was his third goal of the season and his seventh league strike overall since joining Spurs in the summer of 2023.

The playmaker's previous 43 goals were all netted for former club Leicester City, with the first one dating back to 18 August 2018, when the Foxes beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0.

How Maddison scores his goals

With the help of Oracle, we've analysed the different ways in which Maddison finds the net.

He has scored 37 goals with his right foot and 13 with his left. Remarkably he is only the fifth player in Premier League history to reach 50 goals without scoring a single header, after Thierry Henry, Kevin De Bruyne, Damien Duff and Peter Beardsley.

His half-century of goals includes two penalties, from four attempts.

Sunday's goal was his ninth from a direct free-kick in the competition. Since debuting in the top flight in 2018/19, only James Ward-Prowse (15) has netted more times from a direct free-kick than Maddison.

How Maddison scored his goals

Right foot Left foot Head Total 37 13 0

Half-century scorers at Spurs

Maddison is the third current Spurs player to have reached 50 Premier League goals, after Son Heung-min and Richarlison.

Current Spurs players on 50+ PL goals

Player Total goals For Spurs For other clubs Son Heung-min 123 123 0 Richarlison 60 12 48 James Maddison 50 7 43

Maddison becomes the 137th player to reach 50 goals since the competition began in 1992.

Dominic Solanke scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur got back to winning ways in the Premier League, coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1.

Spurs bounced back from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, with four second-half goals turning the contest completely on its head at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Villa had broken the deadlock just after the half-hour mark through Morgan Rogers, but Brennan Johnson levelled within four minutes of the restart.

The hosts then completed the turnaround in the final quarter of an hour, with Solanke striking twice in the space of four minutes before substitute James Maddison put some gloss on the scoreline with a stoppage-time free-kick.

Spurs climb to seventh in the table with 16 points, two places and two points behind Villa, who missed the chance to jump into the top four.

How the match unfolded

Following a generally even opening half-hour, Villa turned up the pressure with Amadou Onana's header hitting the post, before they broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute.

Guglielmo Vicario could only parry after Pedro Porro deflected John McGinn's corner towards goal, and Rogers reacted quickest to score from two yards out.

However, Spurs responded well and were back on level terms soon after the break, with Johnson turning in Son Heung-min’s cross at the far post.

The hosts then edged ahead in the 75th minute as a neat exchange of passes culminated in Dejan Kulusevski slipping the ball through for Solanke, who beat the offside trap and delightfully lifted over the stranded Emiliano Martinez.

Solanke was in the right place at the right time again four minutes later following another lovely move, tucking in Richarlison’s square ball at the far post.

Maddison then put the icing on the cake in the seventh minute of stoppage time, curling a delicious 20-yard free-kick beyond Martinez.

Spurs come from behind once more

Spurs entered this game having conceded the opening goal in 11 of their 13 home Premier League matches in 2024, though they had recovered to win on seven of those occasions.

Therefore, it would not have been too much of a surprise to them when Rogers prodded Villa in front after 32 minutes.

Nevertheless, whatever Ange Postecoglou said to his players during the half-time break certainly had the desired effect, with Johnson quickly equalising.

Eyebrows were raised when Son was replaced in the 55th minute after returning to fitness, and with Micky van de Ven already injured, Spurs’ problems intensified when Cristian Romero limped off soon afterwards.

However, the hosts did not allow themselves to be affected by that setback, and even after Son’s withdrawal, they showcased their attacking quality to great effect.

The way Spurs’ front players exchanged passes for both of Solanke’s goals was breathtaking, before Maddison rounded off the victory with a sumptuous set-piece effort, scoring his 50th Premier League goal.

Postecoglou has come in for criticism in the season’s early weeks, but with this level of attacking talent, Spurs will always be a threat.

Villa streak screeches to a halt

Without a defeat in seven Premier League matches – and having won nine of their 13 league matches in London under Unai Emery – Villa had every right to arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium feeling confident.

They had also won on three of their four most recent visits to this ground, and everything appeared to be going to plan again when Rogers broke the deadlock – demonstrating their quality from set-pieces once more.

However, Johnson’s equaliser appeared to knock the stuffing out of Villa, with the hosts putting themselves firmly in charge of the contest.

The visitors subsequently had no answer to their opponents’ slick attacks, and they must endure that rare feeling of leaving the capital empty-handed.

The positive thing for Villa is they do not have much time to dwell on this result. A trip to Club Brugge awaits on Wednesday, and the mission is to maintain their impressive unbeaten start to this season’s Champions League.

Club reports

Spurs report | Aston Villa report

What managers said

Ange Postecoglou: "They are a very good side, they have a level of performance that rarely drops.

"It was a tight first half, we had to match up with them and it was disappointing for them to score. After that, we have other gears in us and we showed that in the second half. After the performance in midweek I thought it was an outstanding effort.

"We stick to our principles, there is great belief in these players, and when we do that we are hard to stop. I felt the momentum was going our way, we knew we would finish strong and if we upped it a couple of gears like we can we knew we would be hard to stop."

Unai Emery: "When you are losing you have to try and get one step forward to try and change the result. But we know how difficult it is against Tottenham. 4-1 is a tough result but the match we played was more or less in line with the expectation I had before the match.

"We are disappointed, frustrated but we are accepting it. We know our way, it is 38 matches, the league is very tight."

Next Premier League fixtures

Key facts

Since the start of last season, Tottenham Hotspur have gone on to win 10 Premier League matches in which they conceded the first goal; the joint-most of any team in the competition along with Manchester City, while winning three of their last four in which they've gone one goal down.

Spurs’ Solanke has now scored more goals against Aston Villa under Unai Emery in the Premier League than any other player, netting four goals in four appearances against them.

Villa have scored five goals from set-pieces (excl. pens) in the Premier League this season, with no team scoring more than Unai Emery’s men (Arsenal also five).

Since the start of last season, Tottenham Hotspur have conceded the opening goal on 13 occasions in Premier League home matches – excluding relegated sides, only Manchester United (14) have done so more times in this period.

Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City are in “trouble” and only have “13 outfield players” after his side suffered more injuries in Wednesday night's EFL Cup defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.

Manuel Akanji and Savinho were the latest names to be added to City's injury list, as the former hurt his calf in the warm-up and the winger was taken off on a stretcher in the second half of the 2-1 loss.

“He had a knock in the 18-yard box but we will see tomorrow what happened,” Guardiola said on Savinho.

“We have to see if it was just a knock or something else. It was on the bone, so hopefully nothing dangerous, but we will have to see tomorrow.”

In City's defence, as well as Akanji, Josko Gvardiol required attention immediately after the match while Guardiola says Ruben Dias is also “struggling” after he was withdrawn at half-time.

The champions are next in action at AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.

“It’s tough,” Guardiola added. "Akanji felt something in the muscular part of his body - he wanted to take a risk, but we said, 'No, no risk.'

“Ruben is struggling sometimes as well. It’s been getting more difficult game by game – maybe we will be all back together at some point.

“I don’t know, I didn’t speak [to Gvardiol]. Every time I went in [the dressing-room], [someone] was on the table [having] a massage: it was too busy, too crowded! So, I don’t know.

“We are in real difficulty because the guys who finish had some problems but we will see how they recover. I think when we are in trouble, because in nine years I never had this situation with many injuries for many reasons, in this situation, the players step forward more than ever in all they try to do.

“We have a short time for recovery this week. We have 13 outfield players. Tomorrow we have two goalkeepers and Erling Haaland in the training session. The rest, we don't have anything else...”

Who else is out for City?

Man City are already without Kyle Walker, Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, with some of those not returning for at least a few weeks.

“Our captain [Walker] is injured,” Guardiola added. “I don’t think he or Kevin will be back until after the international break. Jack Grealish as well.”

That means the trio will also miss the trip to Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend before potentially making their comeback after the international break on 23 November against Spurs.

In total, City could have up to nine first-team players unavailable to travel to Bournemouth.

Man City's next five PL fixtures

Who can Guardiola call upon?

Providing Dias and Gvardiol are not ruled out for Bournemouth, these are the 13 first-team outfield players that Guardiola says he has to choose from:

Defenders: Ake, Dias, Gvardiol, Lewis, Stones, Wilson-Esbrand; Midfielders: Foden, Gundogan, Kovacic, McAtee, Nunes, B.Silva; Forwards: Haaland.

Who might get a call-up from the Academy?

The injuries present an opportunity for some talented City youngsters to get some first-team experience on Saturday.

Jahmai Simpson-Pusey (18 years old), who came on for his senior debut at Spurs, Nico O'Reilly (19), James McAtee (22) and Jacob Wright (19) could all feature. O'Reilly was among the players praised by Guardiola after his performance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“The Nico we saw tonight was the Nico we met last season – what a game he played,” Guardiola said. “This competition is very good to give players this chance. Jahmai was exceptional at centre-half in the minutes he played.

“James McAtee – what a game he had – and Nico and Jacob played really well. I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen – really pleased. Ninety minutes, so composed against a team that is so, so dangerous.”

Who else got injured in the EFL Cup?

Man City weren't the only team to suffer in midweek. Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton both went off early in their win at Aston Villa while Spurs' Micky van de Ven also had to be withdrawn with a suspected hamstring problem.