Tottenham eye turning point as Ange Postecoglou vindicated on landmark day

James Maddison scored doubly connected his 28th birthday, arsenic Tottenham thrashed Manchester City 4-0 successful an outstanding show astatine the Etihad.

Pedro Porro and substitute Brennan Johnson added further goals aft the interval successful a landmark effect for Ange Postecoglou connected what was perchance a seismic juncture successful the rubric race.

Here are 3 talking points from the match…

Tottenham person beaten Manchester City earlier but this effect felt precise different.

For 1 thing, 5 defeats successful a enactment is simply a archetypal for City since 2006 and a new, unwanted grounds for Pep Guardiola, who is present facing his biggest trial arsenic a coach.

This was the archetypal of City’s losing series to travel astatine home, ending their 52-game unbeaten tally astatine the Etihad, and determination are superior questions astir whether Guardiola’s broadside tin resistance themselves backmost into the rubric race. Liverpool volition determination 8 points wide if they bushed bottommost nine Southampton connected Sunday.

Guardiola erstwhile described Spurs arsenic 'the Harry Kane team' but are City the Rodri team?

They cannot relation without the Spaniard, who paraded the Ballon d’Or to the crushed earlier kick-off but was again a immense miss successful midfield.

For Spurs, this felt similar a landmark result, comfortably their champion triumph to day nether Postecoglou (far much important than their different large triumph successful Manchester this season, which came against Erik 10 Hag’s struggling United).

Their erstwhile League wins implicit Guardiola – nether 4 antithetic managers – person each been with backs-to-the-wall, counter-punching displays, usually inspired by Kane oregon Heung-min Son and requiring a grade of bully fortune.

In this game, Spurs were devastating connected the interruption and Son was influential, but the visitors bushed City astatine their ain game.

Postecoglou’s broadside looked to get connected the shot and bravely played retired from the back, contempt being without their first-choice centre-backs, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.

They were amended than City successful each area, displaying a objective borderline successful the last 3rd and overrunning the champions successful the mediate of the parkland implicit and implicit again.

By the clip Spurs retreated to the borderline of their box, they were 3-0 up, wholly successful power of the crippled and blessed to deed City connected the counter-attack.

The effect volition easiness the unit connected Postecoglou and rise questions astir whether Spurs could beryllium among the clubs to instrumentality vantage of what whitethorn beryllium a fallow twelvemonth for City.

This effect coming aft the 2-1 location decision to Ipswich, though, felt wholly connected marque for Postecoglou’s up-down side, and it volition number for thing if they bash not bushed Fulham adjacent play and found immoderate consistency going forward.

Tottenham’s show was a triumph for Postecoglou’s approach, peculiarly arsenic the caput coach’s large enactment decisions paid disconnected spectacularly.

Maddison returned to the XI aft playing conscionable 14 minutes of the erstwhile 2 League games, with Dejan Kulusevski moving backmost to the close wing.

Kulusevski has been Spurs’ champion subordinate this play successful a cardinal role, truthful it was a hazard from Postecoglou to power the Swede, peculiarly to accommodate the out-of-form Maddison.

He made superb runs into the container for some goals and finished smartly, peculiarly the 2nd which was dinked implicit the onrushing Ederson from Son’s pass.

Kulusevski, meanwhile, was phenomenal again, crossing for Maddison to interruption the deadlock and proving influential successful the build-up to Porro’s strike.

City simply could not incorporate the hard-running Swede, who drew a crisp prevention from Ederson astatine 3-0, and played similar helium had an other lung.

Postecoglou’s changes were different changeable successful the oculus to his critics, who assertion helium is excessively inflexible, and the effect volition spell a agelong mode to gathering content successful his high-risk football.

For the 2nd twelvemonth running, Spurs got a effect astatine the Etihad without van de Ven and Romero.

It was casual to fearfulness for Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies up against Erling Haaland, but the brace were fantabulous – with and without the ball.

Dragusin, who is yet to truly person arsenic a Postecoglou player, made the opening extremity with a raking walk for Kulusevski and was a stone defensively.

The Romanian seems to rise his crippled for City, and this was his 3rd awesome show against the champions.

Davies was arsenic good, lasting up to Haaland contempt a tallness disadvantage, and playing retired well, ensuring Spurs dominated their near flank.

Their performances should springiness Spurs assurance that they tin header without Romero and van de Ven, who is not expected to instrumentality until the mediate of adjacent month.