Manchester City endured yet another miserable trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs beat them 1-0 thanks to a record-breaking Harry Kane strike.
Pep Guardiola’s side are yet to score at the ground, let alone win, and they proved unable to take advantage of Arsenal’s defeat to Everton on Saturday. Victory would have seen City move to within two points of the Gunners.
Instead Spurs did their north London rivals a favour, as Kane’s first-half goal, one that moved him beyond Jimmy Greaves and to the top of the club’s goalscoring charts, proved good enough for three points. Cristian Romero was sent off late on for a second yellow, but his side held on in his absence.
It moves Tottenham just a point behind Newcastle in fourth, though they have played a game more than the Magpies.
Antonio Conte missed the game for Tottenham as he continues his recovery from surgery, with his assistant Cristian Stellini left in charge of team selection. Pedro Porro was named on the bench and made to wait for his debut, while Kevin De Bruyne was among the substitutes for City.
The Spurs gameplan was clear to see from the start, sitting off and letting City have the ball but bursting into life when the opportunity came on the counter.
That worked to perfection for the opening goal, the visitors caught on the edge of their own box and Tottenham pounced. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg intercepted a terrible pass from Rodri, poked the ball through to Kane and he did the rest with a record-breaking finish.
Spurs continued to pose a threat throughout the half, but City twice went close before the break. Jack Grealish curled an effort wide of the far post, before Riyad Mahrez smashed an effort off the bar in first-half stoppage time.
The pressure inevitably built in the second-half as City pushed for an equaliser. De Bruyne came on and curled an effort just wide, while Julian Alvarez had one shot brilliantly blocked by Eric Dier and fired another inches wide.
The hosts still packed a punch though, and went close on more than one occasion to doubling their advantage. Kane was inches away from meeting Ivan Perisic’s ball in at the back post, before the forward was then denied by Ederson after bundling his way through the defence.
Romero picked up a second yellow with just a few minutes remaining as he hacked down Grealish, setting up an even nervier conclusion. Spurs though held on, for a result celebrated in all corners of north London.
