Manchester City's losing streak stretched to five matches as Tottenham Hotspur stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
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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.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
16 | +21 | 39 |
| 2 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
17 | +18 | 35 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
17 | +18 | 33 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
17 | +4 | 31 |
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
17 | +6 | 28 |
| 6 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
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 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, AFC Bournemouth and Chelsea in December.
Club reports
Man City report | Spurs report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: "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."
Ange Postecoglou: "It's significant, when you understand the context of who we were playing. I'm proud of the lads, the football we played, the resilience and discipline we showed. When you play City they test every aspect of your game and we handled that well."
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).
Spurs (1-2 v Ipswich, 4-0 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 Maddison (4), who scored the earliest-ever brace away from home against the reigning Premier League champions (20th minute).
Josko Gvardiol created eight chances from open play today against Spurs, the most ever on record in a Premier League game by a defender (since 2003-04).
