For the second time in three Premier League games, Tottenham's approach vs Manchester City was simple. And very effective.
Soak up the pressure, press high and hard off the ball, and wait for a mistake. By targeting Rodri - just as they did at the Etihad a fortnight ago - Spurs took control of a game with huge implications for both sides to take the lead.
At the Etihad, Rodri was forced into passing the ball blindly straight to Dejan Kulusevski to score. At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Rodri's pass in an identical situation, facing his own goal, found Rico Lewis, who was helpless to prevent being dispossessed for Harry Kane to open the scoring and give City another hill to climb.
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Rodri is City's underrated conductor, who is integral to making the Blues tick. While others get rotated around him, Rodri is undroppable in big games, and his presence is sorely missed when he doesn't feature.
Often, having two central midfielders occupies the opposition and allows Rodri to dictate City's play, spread the ball when needed, and he's increasingly becoming a key part of City's attacking arsenal with his quarterback-style balls over the defence.
At Spurs, though, with Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan dropped, Rodri was more exposed and Bernardo Silva was unable to offer enough protection. Especially with Julian Alvarez in the 'De Bruyne' space and tasked with a more offensive role.
So just like they did at the Etihad, Spurs doubled up on Rodri with the duo of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur. Even Rico Lewis' presence in midfield as an inverted full-back didn't seem to matter. Once again, City were getting overrun in midfield by Spurs' hunting pack.
With Rodri unable to truly impact the game, City's entire performance level dropped and the link between defence and attack on the transitions was broken. In his programme notes, Antonio Conte said Spurs knew how to improve from their 4-2 defeat in Manchester, and were confident they could do it.
It seems by targeting City high, and specifically by stopping Rodri, they replicated their attacking strengths that were effective at the Etihad. In turn, City were thrown off balance and were once again left chasing the game.
It's not the first time that City have struggled to fire without Rodri pulling the strings, and Guardiola will have noticed how City started to click when De Bruyne was brought on to add another body in midfield.
Not only did De Bruyne show his class, but Rodri was allowed to as well.
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