Brennan Johnson reflects on “perfect” Tottenham performance in the 2-0 away win over Manchester City on Saturday afternoon
Tottenham Hotspur have walked away from the Etihad Stadium with yet another three points, putting two goals past Manchester City on Saturday afternoon to continue their strong start to the 2025/26 season.
The Lilywhites ran out comfortable victors over newly-promoted Burnley over the opening weekend of the campaign, but the main question everyone had was whether they could build on it by beating Manchester City? The answer is YES! Spurs came to the Etihad with a plan and executed it perfectly. Thomas Frank would have been delighted with his team’s display over the 90 minutes.
Brennan Johnson opened the scoring in the 35th minute before Joao Palhinha doubled the lead at the stroke of half time. Erling Haaland missed from four yards out as he attempted to drag Man City back into the game, and the hosts created very little in the second half to lose 2-0 to the Lilywhites.
Brennan Johnson gives his verdict on Tottenham’s win at City
Johnson was one of the shining stars in Tottenham’s excellent display and victory at City. The Welshman has attracted criticism during his two years in north London for lacking incisiveness in his play and being a profligate finisher, yet, of late, he has been improving his game.
On Saturday, the winger was up to the task, notching Spurs’ first goal and being a constant pest for the home side’s defence with his pressing and energy. When asked to describe the feeling of beating Guardiola’s side at their stomping ground, Johnson told TNT Sports (h/t BBC Sport):
“Really pleased. I thought we played really well today, and we built on what we did last weekend. To come here get a clean sheet and score some goals – perfect.
“The first few games we have kept two clean sheets and against Man City it is not easy. I have played here a lot of times and conceded a lot of goals.”
Tottenham continue their great record vs Pep Guardiola’s City
During his pre-match presser on Friday, Pep Guardiola had to ask what the term ‘bogey’ meant when discussing Man City’s poor record against Tottenham.
City so often tend to win even in the big games against the rest of the top six, but it is noteworthy that they have struggled over the years when locking horns with Spurs. Guardiola has faced a number of different Tottenham managers during his time in charge of the Mancunian side, but suffered defeats against Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Ange Postecoglou.
On Saturday, Thomas Frank became the latest Spurs boss to beat Pep’s side. By doing so, the Dane joined the elite company as just the third manager to beat Pep in the league with two different clubs. To top it off, the City gaffer suffered back-to-back home defeats to the same opponent for the first time in his career.
Clearly, Pep and City must be detesting to face the Lilywhites twice every season.