Sergio Aguero and Jesus Navas both scored braces as Manchester City recorded a 6-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
Alvaro Negredo also found the net, while Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Sandro put through his own net to compound the away side's misery.
Below, Sports Mole has looked back over the contest to determine if the outcome can be considered harsh on the North Londoners.
Match statistics:
Man City:
Shots 15
On target 10
Possession 47%
Corners 4
Fouls 7
Spurs:
Shots 13
On target 5
Possession 53%
Corners 7
Fouls 11
Was the result fair?
No team has ever won a match 6-0 and not deserved to be victorious. Is the margin of the win harsh on Spurs? Their possession would suggest that they played their part in the contest, but in truth, they were well below par. City took advantage and from their outlook at least, they scored some good goals. The North Londoners got exactly what they deserved - a hiding.
Man City's performance
Strangely, City will have performed much better this season and not won by such a large margin. In the first half they actually surrendered a lot of the midfield territory to Spurs, but were not punished. It's something that may worry manager Manuel Pellegrini ever so slightly because a better side could have made them pay. What they do have is two of Europe's most in-form strikers and virtually any error that was committed by Spurs ended with City scoring a goal. The big thing for City now is to replicate these type of results on the road.
Spurs' performance
The less said about that display the better from a Tottenham point of view! It started horrendously and only got worse. At the break they found themselves 3-0 down and yet they had much more of the possession. Such a fact highlights how wasteful they were on the ball; not only that, they lacked any pace or dynamism in the final third. Once again, Roberto Soldado cut a forlorn figure as a lone frontman and now could be the time for manager Andre Villas-Boas to partner him with Jermain Defoe or even Emmanuel Adebayor. Up the other end, Michael Dawson's distinct lack of pace was heavily exploited. It appeared that both Aguero and Negredo had identified him as the weak link in the Spurs rearguard.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jesus Navas: The pint-sized Spanish winger has been out of favour in recent weeks and was making his first Premier League start since the Manchester derby in September. With that in mind, he could have been forgiven for showing signs of rustiness, yet he scored with just 14 seconds on the clock! That seemed to give him confidence and he went on to justify his selection by setting up one of Aguero's goals, as well as creating a number of other opportunities. Then in stoppage time he fittingly rounded off the scoring with a composed finish.
Biggest gaffe
What is it with Premier League goalkeepers this weekend? First Artur Boruc produces a howler at Arsenal, and now Lloris. The Spurs keeper has been one of the best in the Premier League this term, but with only a few seconds on the clock, he sent his clearance straight to Aguero. The French goalkeeper looked as though he had got away with it when he saved the City striker's shot, only for Navas to lift in the rebound.
Referee performance
There was a point towards the end of the first half where Tottenham's frustrations threatened to get the better of them, but Howard Webb dealt with the situation well. He did produce a number of cautions, but then showed the benefit of the doubt to Sandro in particular. Other officials would have probably handed the Brazilian a second yellow card, but Webb opted to just talk to the Spurs midfielder instead.
What next?
Man City: The Citizens are back on Champions League duty on Wednesday night with the visit of Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
Spurs: The Londoners are on the road in the Europa League on Thursday evening when they take on Norwegian outfit Tromso.
Liam Apicella
