It seemed too good to be true, and it turns out that it was - albeit for circumstances outside of Manchester City's control.
The Blues had already blasted their way back from the jaws of defeat to beat one of their bogey sides when they downed Crystal Palace last month. And the fixtures and the formbook were aligning to mean Pep Guardiola could also have denied his biggest irritant Tottenham just seven matches into the Premier League season.
Antonio Conte's team have looked excellent so far this season after a terrific summer transfer window, and 'Lads, it's Tottenham' does have a very different meaning at the Etihad than it did for Sir Alex Ferguson's United. But, with Erling Haaland smashing in his 11th and 12th goals in seven games during a 4-0 win over Sevilla, City had every right to be confident that this could be a prime opportunity to put Spurs to the sword and send a message to the rest of the Premier League.
