Blues show silk and steel with Spurs win
TRIPS to Tottenham tend to be a good barometer of exactly where City stand in the scheme of Premier League things.
The last three times they have won the title, they have gone to White Hart Lane – or latterly Wembley – and produced emphatic victories.
In between those wins, by 5-1 in 2011-12, the same scoreline in 201314 and last season’s character-proving 3-2 triumph, they have had some poor results.
Victory in the north London chill, courtesy of a goal from Riyad Mahrez, was not through the kind of freescoring action that we saw in those wins.
But in terms of being a yardstick against which progress can be measured, this was perfect. It meant City racked up a sixth consecutive clean sheet in the league, something they have not done before under boss Pep Guardiola, who, rather than being euphoric about a vital win, was fretful about more wasted chances in front of goal.
And while they remain a team that perpetually seeks to get on the front foot, they have developed a steely attitude, an ability to see out games and close down opponents.
They did it at Anfield, where a team that had terrorised them with pacey counter-attacking last season was tamed – and but for Mahrez’s rush of blood at a late penalty, City would have won that one, too.
But this was a game that had slipup written all over it.
There was apprehension in the City ranks about the state of the pitch, racked and ruined by the beasts of the NFL 26 hours earlier, even if they were reluctant to speak publicly of it.
City are better than a good Tottenham team but the bumpy surface was always going to be a leveller.
And the fear was that a Spurs side which can boast physical specimens like Eric Dier, Moussa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko would outpunch the lightweight Blues, who pitted David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho against them.
But while this was never going to be the free-flowing, footballing genius on a pitch that was bumpy and unpredictable, and covered in confusing markings, it was an exhibition of character. Tottenham will point to the squandering of a great late chance by Erik Lamela, as he blazed high over the bar, but replays showed that he suffered a horrendous bobble. So while it was tough on Lamela, it was karma for Tottenham as a club for allowing the situation to develop where a game of this magnitude was played on a cabbage patch. And City could point to their own moments where they were denied by unkind runs and bounces. Stuart Brennan