Key events
85 min: De Bruyne has made a difference since coming on, as we always knew he would. He pings a ball down the inside-left channel for Gvardiol, who spins into the box and shoots. It’s no good, and the flag goes up for offside anyway.
84 min: Akanji has a dig that is deflected out for a corner. From the set piece, De Bruyne has a whack. Blocked. City come again, Grealish crossing from the left, Silva blazing a volley well over the bar. Despite it all, the hosts haven’t given up hope here.
82 min: Vicario has made some fine stops tonight. Those two in quick succession, from Gundogan and De Bruyne, have really frustrated City as they look for a goal that would jangle a few Spurs nerves.
80 min: De Bruyne slips Haaland into the box down the right. Haaland opens his body and shoots hard. Vicario parries again. De Bruyne tries to meet the rebound, but succeeds in only kicking Sarr. All of which leads to a rare old brouhaha, and both De Bruyne and Sarr are booked for squaring up to each other. City now getting ragged in mind as well as play.
78 min: Silva is booked for a pretty agricultural swipe at Maddison from behind. His subsequent complaint to the referee registers a full 10 on our Chutzpah-o-meter™.
77 min: De Bruyne slips a clever pass down the right channel to release Gundogan, who shoots hard from a tight angle. Vicario stands tall to block with his chest, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
75 min: A cute shimmy by Silva down the right. He looks for Haaland in the middle, but Porro is on hand to clear. Silva’s skill at least gets the home crowd excited again … but then Walker blooters a dismal cross out for a goal kick, and the feelgood moment, such as it was, disappears into the ether.
74 min: Here come the cavalry? De Bruyne and Grealish replace Savinho and Lewis.
73 min: Foden wriggles down the inside-left channel and gets a shot away. A pea-roller. It’s easy for Vicario, but it does go down as City’s first strike on target in this second half.
72 min: Walker earns a corner down the right. Foden loops it in. Vicario claims without fuss.
71 min: City pass and probe, probe and pass. Spurs hold their shape. The clock ticks on.
69 min: Gvardiol, who has been decent in attack if nothing else, wedges a cross into the Spurs box from the left. Haaland heads over.
67 min: To be fair to both Kulusevski and Ederson, the keeper still had work to do there, clawing the shot away with a strong hand.
66 min: Solanke barges his way down the middle and suddenly Spurs are three on two. Solanke has options either side, but instead of looking for Maddison to his left, goes for Kulusevski to his right. Kulusevski enters the box but takes too long over the shot, which is eventually slapped straight at Ederson. That – and this is quite the thing to be saying about a team playing Manchester City away – should have been four.
64 min: Savinho floats a diagonal cross towards Gvardiol, just inside the Spurs box on the left. Gvardiol slashes an effort of zero threat over the bar. That’s City’s 14th shot so far this evening; they’ve only managed two on target so far.
63 min: Spurs make their first change, replacing Son with Johnson, who will be used to piling forward in the unfettered style after his international sojourn with Craig Bellamy’s freewheeling Wales.
61 min: Silva worms his way down the right and crosses for Gvardiol, who drives towards the bottom left. Porro blocks and clears, and celebrates as though he’s just scored. Which, in fairness, he also has.
60 min: City go back to what they know best – patient probing – and Ake wins a corner down the left. Spurs deal with it easily enough, Davies heading clear. But suddenly City spring awake, returning the ball into the mixer. Haaland nicks it off Davies on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box, spins, and lashes a shot across Vicario and off the top of the crossbar. So unlucky!
59 min: The rain is coming down in stair-rods now. Even by Mancunian standards, this is quite the downpour. To the great credit of City’s fans, they respond to this miserable state of affairs with an extremely loud rendition of Blue Moon. “Trump heading back to the White House, doomsday fish washing up on the beaches, and City heading to a fifth straight loss? Is this the end of days?” wonders Liz (not the actress) White.
57 min: On Sky, co-commentator Gary Neville suggests that City are being outplayed in every single department. Pep is copping it in the stadium, too. “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” trill the satirists in the Spurs end.
55 min: Lewis skittles Maddison in the frustrated fashion, and goes into the book. The Spurs fans are making one heck of a racket. Can you blame them?
54 min: Spurs are enjoying playing in Manchester this season, aren’t they?
GOAL! Manchester City 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur (Porro 53)
Pep will be rubbing his head even harder now. Kulusevski picks the ball up deep in his own half, beating three men before one-twoing with Son and tearing off down the left. His long cross finds Solanke on the other flank. Solanke enters the box and cuts back for Porro, who lashes an unstoppable shot across Ederson and into the top left!
51 min: Pep Guardiola sits on the bench looking downcast, rubbing his head pensively.
49 min: According to Sky, because I’ve certainly not had the time to do the counting, City are currently 52 matches unbeaten at the Etihad. A lot resting on this second half.
47 min: A strangulated chorus of “We’re not really here”. It’s a City song, but you wouldn’t blame Spurs fans for co-opting it right now. “Could you ask the non-golfer David Howell if he is the chess grandmaster David Howell?” asks David (not Howell) Gardner.
Manchester City get the second half started. They’ve replaced John Stones, whose return from injury has lasted just one half of football, with Nathan Aké.
Half-time letters (all, in a very strange coincidence, from readers with famous namesakes). “How in the world is James Maddison 28? He’s had the ‘promising youngster’ tag for absolutely ages. Is he still promising or has he reached his peak?” – Andy (not the cricketer) Flintoff
“City is not balanced on the wing, that is why they are being over run. Doku needs to be in to peg back their wing backs. Gundogan needs to be switched out and Nunes in, he has more dynamic power going forward, he is closer to Rodri than Gundo at the moment. Also I would give Haaland a rest. He misses too many easy chances. Let him marinate and come back hungry” – Kirk (not the actor) Douglas
“This title race really does look like 2019-20 all over again, Which is a terrifying thought, not because I’m not a Liverpool fan, but because parallels to five years ago makes articles like this one even scarier” – David (not the golfer) Howell
“I know what’s really going on here. City’s highly-paid advisors have out-thought the leaden-footed conventional-bound Premier League. If City are convicted of those 115 charges, a punishment of relegation would be moot if they are already demoted, so they will fail to win another game this season, as a kind of situationist jazz happening. City are playing 3-D Chess yet again. Everything connects, Scott. Everything. Connects” – Paul (not the guy who played piano on Bob Dylan’s classic mid-60s trilogy Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde) Griffin
Some much-needed succour for the champions here. Since the start of last season, according to a graphic flashed up by Sky Sports, no team has recovered more points from losing positions than Manchester City. That probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise, but there it is nonetheless.
37: Manchester City
34: Tottenham Hotspur
32: Liverpool
29: Aston Villa
HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
City started fast … then came off the rails. Or more accurately, were barged off them by some sensational Spurs attacking. City are staring down the barrel of a fifth straight defeat in all competitions, though both teams will doubtlessly be thinking about this …
… so don’t go anywhere. Huge second half coming up!
45 min +2: City are getting frustrated. Walker upends Maddison down the left and then, a free kick conceded, considers slamming the ball into the ground. He thinks twice, just in time.
45 min: … Akanji harmlessly heads behind. There will be three additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Gvardiol nearly beats Dragusin in a footrace down the left. Not quite, but his presence is enough to win a corner. From which …
43 min: Son has the chance to shoot from just inside the box, but over-thinks things and another chance is gone. City go up the other end, Silva advancing down the left and crossing, Foden scissoring a fine effort over the bar from 12 yards.
42 min: Silva gives the ball away. City have been so careless in possession … which is a very strange thing to be able to type. Kulusevski tees up Bissouma, who lashes a wild effort high over the bar.
41 min: Vicario is back up and ready to go.
39 min: Vicario goes down again, holding his ankle. On comes the physio.
37 min: Porro deals with a long ball down the middle by heading backwards towards his keeper. Not quite enough power. Savinho nearly nips in, but Vicario claims on the edge of the box, before being clattered by the City attacker. A free kick, nothing more. Savinho was entitled to challenge for that loose ball.
36 min: Savinho sends a drive towards the bottom left from distance. Easy enough for Vicario.
35 min: City probe patiently again. But to no avail. Kulusevski attempts a counter down the left before running the ball out of play. He doesn’t give it back immediately to Silva, who rather petulantly nibbles at his ankles. A fussier referee might have booked both players, but this one merely waves play on dismissively. “It looks like Pep is playing midfield wannabes in midfield as well,” quips Yash Gupta.
33 min: The harum-scarum pace and shape of this game is suiting Spurs. City decide to take things down a notch or two with some sterile domination. The patient probing leads to a free kick out on the right, near the corner flag. Foden sails the set piece over everyone’s head in the middle. Goal kick. But that’s better from City, who it’s now easy to forget, looked totally on it during the first ten minutes or so. Now, not so much.
31 min: Gvardiol crosses from the left. Savinho connects with a flying header, the ball heading towards the top-left corner. Vicario turns it around the post, then the flag goes up correctly for offside. Savinho – and Haaland – were both miles off. Neither had reason to be.
