A victory to unite North London. Harry Kane’s record 267th goal for Tottenham sank Manchester City and brought Arsenal closer to the Premier League title.
But if the Arsenal appearance is a bitter pill for Spurs to swallow, then anything else on that day would surely have invigorated a recovering Antonio Conte, out after gallbladder surgery midweek.
As for Pep Guardiola, another big game master plan has to be questioned.
If every game at this stage of the season is a final, as managers are wont to suggest, then how is it justifiable to make Kevin De Bruyne, the Premier League’s most creative player, a substitute?
The Belgian’s bench was City’s camp pre-game bomb, and by the time he arrived, just before the hour mark, City were not only trailing, they were in tatters.
Erling Haaland couldn’t see the ball – he didn’t have a shot all game, or even a touch in the Spurs penalty area – and City’s possession dominance was getting them nowhere.
Arsenal, beaten by Everton on Saturday, would have feared their lead at the top would be reduced to two points, but the longer this game went on, the more energized Mikel Arteta would have been.
The same goes for Conte, who captain Hugo Lloris said was at home in Turin. It was decided on Saturday that Conte should skip this game, and assistant Cristian Stellini has seen Tottenham show fighting qualities that have not always shone this season.
So what about De Bruyne’s bet? Was it up there with Guardiola’s 2021 Champions League final punt starting without a natural midfielder, capitalized on by Chelsea?
De Bruyne plays the kind of high-priced passes and crosses that bring chances and goals, but they also often result in a change of possession. Guardiola reportedly looked at the likes of Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski, and decided City didn’t need this pair sprinting on the counterattack.
Before this match, De Bruyne had lost the ball more than 200 times this season than the four players Guardiola selected in midfield on Sunday. De Bruyne had lost the ball 469 times, compared to 258 for Rodri, 248 for Bernardo Silva, 237 for Riyad Mahrez and 219 for Jack Grealish.
On average per 90 minutes, De Bruyne had lost the ball 19.91 times, and among Sunday’s quartet the worst offender of the season had been Mahrez (13.36 for 90).
However, no one in City’s ranks has come close to De Bruyne’s 16 assists, with five from Rodri and Bernardo Silva second most by a City midfielder.
So it was unmistakably a gamble, with Guardiola trusting his midfield to be tough and fend off the risk of a Tottenham bust, but also creative enough to unlock the home defense.
And when picking a team to keep possession, it helps if they avoid messing around at the edge of their own penalty area.
Rodri was backing up and almost off balance in the 15th minute when he looked to play in the middle of the field, spotting team-mate Rico Lewis but not the hidden Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
The Spurs Danish midfielder snuck in to snatch the pass intended for Lewis and blasted five yards forward before tossing the ball Kane’s way.
What followed wasn’t the cleanest strike of Kane’s career, but the wobbly shot beat Ederson and found the left corner. The late Jimmy Greaves, Spurs’ top scorer for so long, didn’t care how they found the net, and neither did Kane. Joy spread across his face. It was only his second touch of the match.
City had 78.7 per cent possession in those opening 15 minutes but Spurs had the lead and Kane had his 200th Premier League goal.
Later, Kane told Sky it was “a moment I’ll never forget”, but he put it in the back of his mind for the rest of the game.
Riyad Mahrez rocked the Spurs crossbar just before half-time, and it was as close as City came.
Ben Davies headed a foot over the City bar from a corner in the 57th minute, just as De Bruyne stripped down for the pitchside action.
Let’s go Mahrez. De Bruyne fired wide from a half chance and then Spurs went close for a second goal in the 66th minute, with Son running away on the counter and Ivan Perisic’s skidding cross from the left just too heavy so Kane can reach it.
Haaland bristled at the lack of service, the Premier League’s top scorer with 25 goals this season shaking his head in frustration, pleading with his teammates to do better.
The city was becoming desperate. Julian Alvarez took a chance from 20 yards out and kicked the ball just wide of the top left corner and then Kane smashed his way through Kyle Walker at the other end and only had Ederson to beat, the goalkeeper winning this duel this time.
Tottenham had won five of their last seven Premier League games as they led at half-time this season, but the exception came just a fortnight ago and it came at City, when a 2 -0 in the interval turned into a 4-2 loss.
This time Spurs have been solid and they are now just a point behind fourth-placed Newcastle United, despite having played one game more than the Magpies.
In the end, it didn’t matter that World Cup winner Cristian Romero was sent off in the 87th minute.
The Argentinian’s clumsy challenge delivered a free-kick 25 yards from goal in a central spot: De Bruyne’s territory. Up stepped up the Belgian, and his shot knocked Kane into the wall, ricocheting off Hojbjerg, who fell as if hit by a sniper.
Hojbjerg was excellent, winning possession a team-record eight times across the play, and Tottenham have now beaten City four times in a row at home in the Premier League, without conceding in any of those games.
Only twice before have City lost four games in a row to a specific opponent without scoring – against Chelsea between 2006 and 2009, and Sunderland between 2010 and 2013 – so there’s another touch of history.
It’s terrible ground for City and Guardiola, make no mistake. They have lost in their five visits without scoring, whereas you lose in the Champions League quarter-finals four years ago.
Kane, the man they wanted 18 months ago, a player guardiola praised before this game, a man with history in his sights, was the last man they needed to meet.
The last thing City should have done was seat their main man for the first hour.
