Photo: Tottenham players jubilate: Reuters
James Maddison scored twice as Tottenham romped to victory over a Manchester City side that has now lost five games in a row for the first time since 2006.
Pedro Porro drove home a third before Brennan Johnson added a last minute fourth on an incredible night that saw the end of City’s 52-match unbeaten record at Etihad Stadium, stretching back to just before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
It is City’s worst home league defeat since a 5-1 loss to Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal in 2003.
It was also the first time they have lost three successive Premier League games under Pep Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract extension 48 hours earlier.
Guardiola had never previously lost a home game by four goals in his managerial career.
The Tottenham fans lapped it up, cheekily singing “you’ll be sacked in the morning” at Guardiola as they celebrated Porro’s goal.
It was an amazing transformation for Tottenham, who travelled north without both first-choice central defenders, had five teenagers on the bench and had lost their last game 2-1 at home to Ipswich a fortnight ago.
But Ange Postecoglou’s side made light of their problems in a way City could not. It was their heaviest home defeat since a 5-2 reverse to Leicester in September 2020, when Maddison was among the scorers for the Foxes.
The manner of the defeat merely highlighted the absence of injured midfielder Rodri, who was the subject of an elaborate pre-match celebration on his first visit back to the stadium since winning the Ballon d’Or.
City remain in second but Liverpool will stretch their lead at the top to eight points if they win at Southampton on Sunday.
Tottenham move up to sixth, four points behind City.
Unfamiliar territory for Guardiola
These are unchartered times in Guardiola’s career.
He has never lost so many games in a row. He has lost by margins of three and four goals in two of his past three games, following the Champions League hammering by Sporting earlier this month,
While the Tottenham fans’ baiting was also something he has probably not heard before, the 53-year-old is clearly going nowhere.
However, the answers he is seeking to his side’s poor form are not easy to come by.
The absence of Rodri is clearly a significant factor. City are a shadow of the team they have been when the midfielder has been available.
With Mateo Kovacic also ruled out, there was no effective screen for a back four that looked vulnerable, even without self-inflicted wounds.
At one point, Ilkay Gundogan looked like he was running in treacle as he chased back fruitlessly in an effort to stop another lightning Tottenham counter attack.
If there was a consolation for the hosts, it was that their visitors were equally flaky. But whereas Tottenham took their chances, City failed to do the same.
Haaland should have put the home side ahead but, for some reason, he tried and failed to control Josko Gvardiol’s cross and ended up having his shot blocked rather than taking aim first time.
Savinho failed to find the Norwegian with a straightforward pass that should have put Haaland clean through. Earlier Haaland had tried to sweep home a low cross from the Brazilian but his effort was turned away by Guglielmo Vicario.
The Tottenham keeper also blocked a second-half effort from substitute Kevin de Bruyne and as the blue seats emptied in significant numbers, Spurs centre-back Radu Dragusin epitomised the tenacity within the visitors ranks as he slid in to deny Haaland a late tap-in.