Tottenham beat Man City 4-0 in the Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur picked up three points in the Premier League on matchday 12 against Manchester City, courtesy of a 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium. An excellent performance by the visitors saw them dominate the game from start to finish and pick up a pivotal win in their race for a top four spot at the expense of the defending champions, who have now lost five games on the bounce in all competitions.

James Maddison scored twice in the first half to put Tottenham in complete command of the game and Pedro Porro added another following a superb counter attack early in the second half. A close range finish from Brennan Johnson completed a mauling of Pep Guardiola’s side on home turf. It was the second time that Spurs have beaten City in recent weeks having seen them off in the Carabao Cup by a 2-1 margin as well.

Here are the three talking points from the match.

1. Maddison rises to the occasion

It was the James Maddison show as Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City, with the former Leicester City superstar grabbing a brace. Both of his finishes were neat work from inside the box, though a lot went in the goal with the player’s movement. The double takes Maddison’s tally in recent league matches to three in as many outings after a beautiful free-kick against Aston Villa some weeks ago. While he obviously impressed, there were other great players in the offensive department that deserve the plaudits too.

Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min were credited with an assist each while Dominic Solanke’s unselfish play allow Porro to get his goal in the second period. Brennan Johnson also continued his decent run of form with a goal in stoppage time. After successive losses after the international break, Postecoglou’s men bounced back in the perfect way possible and will be hoping to build upon a positive showing in the upcoming weeks.

2. A stunning defensive display

Tottenham Hotspur struck four past Manchester City in what will certainly go down as a surprise result, though perhaps the bigger bombshell was that they kept a clean sheet after conceding some silly goals in their last few matches, not least without their preferred central defenders in Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin were fabulous, however, and the full backs, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, also did their due diligence in keeping the backline strong and organised.

The central defenders together saw to it that Erling Haaland was never left unmarked while the full backs were all over Savinho and Phil Foden. A special mention must also go to Pape Mata Sarr for his brilliant display as the number six. He won majority of the second balls and made a number of clearances which helped the defence breath a bit more easily. Tottenham, who were one of the best defensive sides in the league when the season started, will look to use this game as a blueprint for their foundation at the back.

3. Werner impresses off the bench

Timo Werner did a decent job when he came off the bench in the second period. The German international put Kyle Walker in a terrible place to set up Brennan Johnson’s goal to grab a deserved assist. After a very terrible start to the campaign, particularly in front of goal, Werner is looking a lot more confident with whatever he does on the pitch and Ange Postecoglou deserves a lot of credit for trusting the former Chelsea star, especially as he will come in handy in the busier phases of the season.

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With Tottenham scheduled to play eight matches across all competitions in December, Werner will have a fair share of minutes off the bench if not as part of the starting eleven every now and then. Richarlison’s and Wilson Odobert’s injuries mean he has even more reason to perform at a higher level and it will be interesting to see if the RB Leipzig loanee continues his recent run of form heading forward for the team.