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Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Monday, 28 September 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The wheels well and truly fell off Manchester City’s early-season bandwagon as they crumbled to a 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday after taking the lead.
The leaders suffered their second successive league defeat, following last week’s home hiccup against West Ham United, as goals from Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld, Harry Kane and Erik Lamela left them reeling.
City had dominated most of the opening half and took the lead after 25 minutes through record signing Kevin de Bruyne.
The visitors had reason to complain about Dier’s equaliser and Kane’s first goal this season, both of which had more than a hint of offside about them, although they also got the benefit of a flag staying down for their opener. Controversy aside, it was a chastening day in north London for City who have gone from looking like racing certainties for the title to a team in defensive disarray. Until the defeat by West Ham they boasted a 100 percent record in the Premier League but after seven games they now have 15 points and could be overhauled by Manchester United if they beat struggling Sunderland later on Saturday.
There seemed no hint of what was to come when City broke quickly in the 25th minute following a Spurs corner with marauding Yaya Toure eventually releasing De Bruyne who slotted his shot past Hugo Lloris.
If there was a suspicion of offside about that goal, Tottenham’s equaliser on the stroke of halftime should never have stood after a terrible miss by the linesman. Several metres offside, Kyle Walker raced on to Christian Eriksen’s pass and crossed low into the area and although City keeper Willy Caballero saved well from Son Heung-min, De Bruyne’s clearance went straight to Dier who drilled a low shot into the corner from 25 metres. Tottenham went ahead five minutes after the break when the industrious Kane earned a free kick and Lamela’s delivery was headed in by Alderweireld.
Eleven minutes later Kane broke his season-long goal famine for his club when he clipped in a rebound after Eriksen’s free kick struck the crossbar - the sense of relief palpable for the England striker and the Spurs fans.
“There’s been a lot of talk but I’m a confident man and have faith in my ability,” Kane, who had gone 12 hours without a goal for Spurs, told BT Sport. “I’m delighted. It was a very good victory against a team who were top of the table.”
The impressive Lamela completed the rout when he showed great composure to fire past Caballero. Tottenham’s third win in a row in the Premier League moved them into fifth place with 12 points, three points behind City.
