The concourses at the Etihad Stadium are already swelling by the time Tottenham score their first. The bleak news quickly filters through to the urinals and the pie queue. Shakes of disbelief and muttered curses through pastry-flecked lips. Then another noise, somehow both hollower and more urgent than the first. This noise is harder to decipher. There can’t possibly be the time for a second Spurs goal. Also, the very idea of a second Spurs goal. But what else could this noise be?
Manchester City are 2-0 down and Arsenal are going to be eight points clear at the top of the Premier League. With a game in hand. Nothing about this team, this squad, this stadium, in this moment, suggests an impending title win. It feels ridiculous at this club, in this era, to declare a league championship gone in January with more than half the season still to play. But what else could this noise be?
