Tottenham Hotspur came from a goal down to thump top-of-the-table Manchester City 4-1 at White Hart Lane this afternoon.
Kevin De Bruyne fired the visitors into a 25th-minute lead, but Eric Dier levelled up in fine fashion just before the break to set the tone for the second half.
There, Toby Alderweireld added a second and Harry Kane broke an eight-match goalless spell by prodding home a third, before Erik Lamela completed the second-half rout for dismal City.
Below, here Sports Mole reviews how the game was won in sunny North London.
© Getty Images
Match statistics
TOTTENHAM
Shots: 15
On target: 8
Possession: 46%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 17
MANCHESTER CITY
Shots: 22
On target: 8
Possession: 54%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 6
Was the result fair?
Tottenham were far and away the better team overall and the three points is their just desserts for an excellent performance after the break. Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini will point to the fact that an offside decision went against his troops in the lead-up to the equaliser, but it can only be a tactic to deflect attention away from the visitors' second-half collapse. Dier's leveller, on the stroke of half time, took the wind out of City's sails completely and only one team looked like winning it from there.
Tottenham's performance
Never in his wildest dreams could Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino have imagined that his side would and could do this to Manchester City. Having only beaten Sunderland and Crystal Palace thus far, there were question marks over Spurs' capacity to mix it with the big boys. They answered them emphatically. Walker's error was the catalyst for City's opener, but Pochettino will have been delighted by the response. Although short on clear-cut chances, the Lilywhites grew in control and the equaliser came when Walker - who was offside - drilled a ball into the danger zone as Son Heung-min was denied by Willy Caballero, but the ball came to Dier, who rifled home from well outside the box to level up matters.
In boxing terms, it could be likened to catching an opponent with a ferocious uppercut moments before the bell to give him something to think about. They returned with a knockout just five minutes after the break when Alderweireld headed home a superb Lamela free kick for a goal that floored Man City. And if it did not then the third certainly did, with Christian Eriksen's free kick coming back off the crossbar and Kane, without a goal this season, prodding home a half-volley. It was a finish that looked much easier than it was.
At the other end, Hugo Lloris, who pulled off two excellent saves to keep out Aleksandar Kolarov and Raheem Sterling prior to Spurs' first goal, preserved the two-goal cushion with perhaps his best of the afternoon when he tipped Jesus Navas's drive over the bar. Lamela, who was also excellent, then get in on the act with a fourth after toying with Caballero and Martin Demichelis. It capped the hosts' third successive Premier League win, and their early-season woes seem a long, long time ago now.
Manchester City's performance
De Bruyne stated in midweek that he has no intention of being the star at Manchester City, despite his club-record £54m transfer fee, but if he maintains his high-flying form then he may have little choice but to take on such a responsibility. The Belgian schemer netted in his third successive game by brilliantly finishing a Yaya Toure pass on the 25-minute mark to open the scoring. It had been coming; City dominated the opening stages, with a high-intensity pressing from their midfield thwarting Spurs' attempts to play out from the back.
On the left-hand side, another pricey summer signing in Sterling, at £49m, very nearly doubled the lead moments after the opener, but Hugo Lloris pulled off a fine stop to deny him. The ex-Liverpool man dovetailed well with left-back Kolarov, and it could, and should, have produced a second goal but the Serbian went for power instead of precision and fired straight at Lloris in the closing minutes of the half. It was a costly miss.
The visiting City fans sang 'what a waste of money' in a tongue-in-cheek reference to De Bruyne after his opener, and Tottenham supporters could have justifiably sung the same on the stroke of half time. Moments after Caballero - who displaced Joe Hart - vindicated Pellegrini's decision to start him by making a fine save to keep out Son, De Bruyne squared straight to Dier who drilled home from 25 yards.
Caballero was blameless on this occasion, but City's second-choice stopper was culpable for Spurs' second after the break when he ventured off his line to punch Lamela's free kick and Alderweireld nodded into an empty net. It remains to be seen why Pellegrini dropped Hart but it certainly seemed costly. From there, the Citizens' heads dropped, with nobody marking Kane for the third, and Lamela's fourth having an element of farce about it. Again, the absence of captain Vincent Kompany and David Silva was glaring for the visitors at both ends of the field.
Last weekend's 2-1 defeat to West Ham United brought Pellegrini's men back to earth following a rip-roaring start to the Premier League season, and the manner of this result will certainly act as an unpleasant reminder that winning the title will be far harder than it seemed just two weeks ago.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Hugo Lloris: There were a number of superb performances from Spurs' outfield players, but few could argue that Lloris's heroics between the sticks, when the hosts were trailing 1-0, did not prove the foundations for such a scalp. The Frenchman pulled off fine saves to keep out both Sterling and Kolarov prior to Dier's equaliser and, simply put, it is a different result entirely if those go in.
Biggest gaffe
It can only be Walker, after the right-back appeared to be struck down by momentary colour blindness after passing to a navy shirt instead of a white one. Inside that navy shirt was Toure, who galloped toward goal from his own half to slip in De Bruyne, and he made no mistake.
Referee performance
Mark Clattenburg had a good game, but he gave the already-booked Demichelis the benefit of the doubt prior to Tottenham's third of the afternoon and, in truth, probably should have sent him off. He penalised the Argentine defender for wrestling Kane to the floor, but any grievances Pochettino may have had over the leniency would have been diminished by the fact his side scored seconds later.
What next?
Tottenham: Spurs are back in European action this Thursday as they travel to AS Monaco in the Europa League.
Manchester City: Pellegrini's side, who lost their Champions League opener to Juventus, will look to bounce back by beating Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday
Shane Callaghan
