Match Report and Player Ratings: Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City suffered a fifth consecutive loss in all competitions after falling to a 0-4 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

A unsurprising defeat and cruel exchange with records at the full-time whistle was a return to action to forget for Pep Guardiola and his players in their latest outing against Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium.

Despite a few shaky pieces of play, Manchester City appeared to be playing fluid football in the opening minutes of the contest. But it took Spurs only 10 minutes to destroy the illusion – exposing the reigning champions for all of their faults.

The Blues created a few chances mostly ending with Erling Haaland missing the mark. Phil Foden combined with Josko Gvardiol to steer past the Spurs’ defence a few times, but while impressive in attack, the Croatian would soon be punished for his defensive duties.

Dejan Kulusevski caught Gvardiol off guard and escaped with the ball before curling it in with a splendid pass to find James Madison. The midfielder found space between John Stones and Kyle Walker and glided past defenders to send the ball past Ederson into the corner.

The visitors continued to build pressure on Pep Guardiola’s men, with their relentless attacks paying off sooner than City expected. A misplaced pass from Gvardiol saw Maddison pounce on the ball and roll it in Son Heung-min’s path, before making a diagonal run inside the box.

The Spurs forward patiently waited for the ball before passing it back to Madison, who dinked it over Ederson for 0-2. The hosts went on to create a handful of chances but failed to bring any to fruition. Ederson was thoroughly tested, as City’s defence repeatedly fell apart.

Things were hardly different in the second half, with the visiting side quickly adding a third. Kulusevski once again found his way past City’s defence, beating three players with some help from Son to find Dominic Solanke, and the latter cut it back for Pedro Porro to fire home.

Kevin De Bruyne’s introduction a little over the hour mark sparked a relentless wave of attacks from the Blues. City forwards forced Vicario to make multiple crucial saves within a small window, but the Spurs goalkeeper stood his ground withstanding all pressure.

Like the previous goals, City were punished with a sudden counter-attack in the final moments. Timo Werner glided past Walker to find a myriad of space and rolled the ball into the path of Brennan Johnson, who netted a fourth goal for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

This marked the first time Pep Guardiola suffered a fifth consecutive defeat in his managerial career. The Catalan has a considerable task ahead of him as Manchester City remain five points behind leaders Liverpool ahead of their Premier League clash this weekend.

Here’s how we believe the Manchester City players fared in their clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening, as attentions will immediately turn to a UEFA Champions League meeting against Feyenoord on Tuesday night.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Ederson – 6

Conceded goals that were as typical as they come, made crucial saves, and at times, appeared as the only saving grace at the back

Kyle Walker – 4

Spun around, outpaced and outmatched, but managed to keep Son from posing more threat.

John Stones – 5

Made crucial interceptions at the back but should have done better in the first two goals.

Manuel Akanji – 5

Unable to cope with the intensity of Spurs’ relentless attacks, was caught off-guard on a few occasions.

Josko Gvardiol – 5

Was outplayed by Dejan Kulusevski, who grew increasingly comfortable attacking down the right side as the game progressed, two mistakes leading to goals. Offered plenty of hope in attack, though.

Bernardo Silva – 5

Exceptional work rate, and yet, nothing to show for the same, ran back and forth but made no significant difference to attack or defence.

Ilkay Gundogan – 4

Struggled in his pairing with Rico Lewis, was poor in his forward passes, and barely offered help top the defensive line-up.

Rico Lewis – 4

Appeared to be somewhat nervous in the defensive midfield role, ended up being a liability for the defensive line-up.

Savinho – 5

Made impressive runs moving forward but made poor choices with his final play.

Phil Foden – 5

Tried creating multiple chances and commanded the attacks from the midfield but failed to pierce through the Spurs’ defence as often as he would have liked.

Erlin Haaland – 4

Missed several of his chances, far from his goal-scoring form for club lately.

Substitutes

Nathan Ake – 5

Replaced John Stones and found himself overwhelmed by Dominic Solanke, should have done better for the third goal.

Kevin De Bruyne – 5.5

Ignited a fire in Manchester City’s attack despite the limited presence, created chances to spark a new hope amidst his side but to no avail.

Jack Grealish – 4

Received the ball, made his runs, tricked the defenders, and nothing came of it.