Looking back at another season-defining City performance from the recent past…
City have struggled to score goals away to Tottenham Hotspur in recent years and are yet to find the back of the net in five visits to the North London side’s new stadium.
But that wasn’t always the case at White Hart Lane, Spurs’ former home where the Blues occasionally headed back up the M1 with a healthy victory.
In 2011, Roberto Mancini’s side won 5-1 with a sparkling display of attacking football as the seeds of a first Premier League title for 44 years were firmly planted.
City failed to defend the crown the Club had waited so long for in 2012/13, but under new manager Manuel Pellegrini and one or two astute new signings, the Blues rediscovered their mojo for the 2013/14 campaign.
Going into this clash with Tottenham, Pellegrini’s side were in full throttle having won 10 of the last 11 Premier League games, with the 35 goals scored along the way yielding an average more than three per game.
In fact, the start of that string of victories had been an imperious 6-0 win over Tottenham at the Etihad, but by the time the return fixture came around, the home side had more than bounced back with seven wins and two draws in 10 games since that drubbing in each Manchester.
"Their only setback had been a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool – a result that cost Andres Villas Boas his position as boss."
Tim Sherwood was promoted from assistant manager to head coach and results picked up quickly and, Spurs were now in a strong position for a Champions League qualification berth with the knowledge a win against City would put them level on points with fourth placed Liverpool.
But stopping free-scoring City represented a major challenge for Sherwood’s in-form side who were desperate to avenge their heaviest top-flight loss for 16 years – a performance that Pellegrini had claimed was “impossible for us to have played any better”.
Tottenham skipper Michael Dawson recalls the lead into the game…
“We’d lost 6-0 at the Etihad and then 5-0 to Liverpool a few weeks later and defeats of that magnitude inevitable cost managers their job,” he said.
“Tim had come in and steadied the ship, initially on an interim basis and then he was given the role on a longer-term basis, but we were up against a phenomenal City team that night.
“I was part of the team that beat City 1-0 at the Etihad to take the last Champions League place in 2010 – let’s talk about that one instead!” laughed Dawson.
"After that, things changed, and City kept growing and growing. That was a defining moment for both City and Spurs because City realised what was needed to move to the next level and players like Silva, Yaya and Aguero – who is one of the best Premier League strikers of all-time for me – started arriving."
Dawson and his team-mates would give it a good go on a chilly night in the capital, but they were up against a scintillating City team capable of breathtaking attacking football – and this would be one of those nights.
The Blues nosed ahead early in the game when a perfectly weighted pass from David Silva into the path of Sergio Aguero resulted in the Argentine placing a sublime angled shot past Hugo Lloris – his 50th Premier League goal for the Club - with just 15 minutes on the clock.
It was a thing of beauty and it smacked of a side at the peak of their powers.
A delightful move not long after should have resulted in a second City goal as the ball was worked out towards Gael Clichy and his pinpoint cross from the left was met with a bullet header from Aguero but kept out by a genuinely world class save from Lloris to keep the deficit to just one goal going into the break.
There was a major blow for the visitors, however, as City lost Aguero to a hamstring injury during the interval and Stevan Jovetic was the replacement.
"Then, with Spurs having just about survived an onslaught for almost 50 minutes – the floodgates finally swung open in what proved to be the pivotal moment in the game."
Another superb City passing move, as always orchestrated by Silva, saw the ball slid to Fernandinho who then threaded a pass into Edin Dzeko’s run and as the Bosnian was about to shoot, Danny Rose’s desperate lunge appeared to take out the Blues’ striker.
The referee pointed to the spot and Rose was shown a straight red for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity – though TV replays showed he had just got a toe to the ball first.
VAR would undoubtedly have reversed the decision and Rose would have remained on the pitch, but this was several years before that technology would become a fixture in the Premier League and instead, Yaya Toure had the chance to double City’s lead from the spot.
“I’m all for VAR despite some crazy decisions in recent weeks, but you look back to defining moments in games and that decision changed the whole game because if VAR had been around, the penalty wouldn’t have stood, and Danny would have stayed on the pitch,” said Dawson.
“Playing against 11 men was hard enough!”
Yaya made no mistake and with 51 minutes played, City were 2-0 up – two minutes later, a two-goal lead became three as the home defence capitulated.
Pablo Zabaleta’s drive into the box on the right and pull-back for Silva saw the Spaniard feign a shot before slamming a drive against the post, but Jovetic’s instinctive prod at the rebound went straight to Dzeko who volleyed home from close range to almost certainly end the game as a contest – almost, but not quite as Etienne Capoue pulled one back just before the hour-mark.
Bearing in mind that almost exactly a decade earlier, a 10-man City had recovered from 3-0 down to win 4-3 at White Hart Lane, could Spurs do the same and stage a remarkable comeback?
Not against this City team.
Fernandinho’s drive forward on 78 minutes saw him find Jovetic on the left and the Montenegrin forward cut inside on the edge of the box before seeing his deflected low drive beat Lloris to make it 4-1 and seal victory.
"Spurs, with a certain Kyle Walker among their number that evening, were desperate for the game to end when City launched one final attack, resulting in a corner on the right."
As the ball was cleared to the lurking Dzeko on the edge of the box, his low shot was parried by Lloris and tapped home by skipper Vincent Kompany to make it 5-1.
The performance had been a statement in itself and the one bright note for Spurs fans was City replaced rivals Arsenal at the top of the table as a result.
“It is not easy to win away against Tottenham in this stadium and score five goals, but I think we played very well.”
Manuel Pellegrini
“When you are captain and you lose in that manner, it hurts, it really does, but we just came up against better team that night,” said Dawson.
Sherwood, suffering his first league defeat as Spurs boss, lamented afterwards, “We knew the team we were up against, and it was hard enough playing the best team in the Premier League with 11 v 11. For me, they’re the best team on the planet.”
Pellegrini added: “It is not easy to win away against Tottenham in this stadium and score five goals, but I think we played very well. I’m not surprised by the number of goals we are scoring because we are always trying to create chances, score goals and because we have top players, they can finish the opportunities we make.”
For former Spurs skipper Michael Dawson, a hugely popular player among the fans at White Hart Lane, City’s rise and rise was inevitable.
He admits the defeats in which he played were painful, but that City are a team he thoroughly enjoys watching.
“The players City have had over the past 10 years and the players City have today make them a team I always love to watch” he said.
"But I must admit I enjoy watching them more from the panel of Soccer Saturday than I would chasing the likes of Grealish, Foden and Haaland around the pitch! But City were different class that night at White Hart Lane."
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