Tottenham Hotspur 1-5 Manchester City: Citizens go top after yet another romp

Manchester City brushed aside Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, as the Citizens went top of the Premier League table.

City were set on their way in the first half by Sergio Aguero, who finished off a slick move in the 15th minute to put the visitors 1-0 up. The away team dominated but Spurs thought they had equalized when Michael Dawson finished, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

Moments into the second half the game turned on its head as Danny Rose took out City’s Edin Dzeko in the penalty box and was shown a red card as Yaya Toure make it 2-0 from the spot. Then in the 52nd minute Dzeko finished off from close range as the PL’s new leaders threatened to wrack up yet more goals.

To their credit Spurs kept plugging away and Ettiene Capoue scored to make it 3-1, but Stevan Jovetic came off the bench to grab his first PL goal and Vincent Kompany rounded off the scoring late on in the 5-1 romp.

The 5-1 win adds to City’s 6-0 demolition of Spurs earlier in the season and the Citizens have now scored 68 PL goals in just 23 games this season. Remarkable stuff from Manuel Pellegrini’s men once again, as Tim Sherwood lost for the first time in the league as Spurs manager.

With their eight successive win City move top of the league and have a one-point lead over Arsenal in second, while Tottenham stay in fifth on 43 points.

Man City started the brighter of the two teams, and in the 4th minute Aguero drifted past three Spurs defenders like they weren’t even there and hammered a shot across goal that pinged off the post and out to safety.

It was an early warning sign for Spurs, and one they didn’t heed.

After 15 minutes City sprayed the ball around and David Silva found a pocket of space in front of Spurs’ defense which he exploited and then sent a perfect pass through to Aguero and the Argentine finished with aplomb. 1-0 to the Citizens and they duly deserved to be in front.

Aguero almost grabbed his and City’s second with a powerful header that Tottenham’s ‘keeper Hugo Lloris somehow kept out with a strong wrist. Spurs were rocking.

Lloris again was called into action as the ball pin-balled around the penalty box as Tottenham somehow cleared with Aguero and Dzeko sniffing around.

Spurs thought they had equalized in the 35th minute as a free kick from the left found captain Dawson unmarked at the back post and he converted into an empty net. However the assistant referee raised his flag for an offside call, which was correct, as City kept their 1-0 lead intact. Just.

Soon after tempers began to flare as Demichelis was booked for a lunge on Aaron Lennon, then Aguero limped off injured with a calf injury. Half time arrived with the Citizens leading 1-0 at the Lane.

After the break Man City went 2-0 up within four minutes of the restart as Fernandinho‘s enterprising run found Dzeko who was taken out by Danny Rose and referee Michael Oliver pointed to the penalty spot. To make matters worse he also sent off Rose, as Yaya Toure stepped up to score the spot kick and Spurs were in all kinds of trouble.

In the 52nd minute it was 3-0 to City, as Dzeko finished off from close range following Silva’s shot being palmed onto the post.

City were rampaging as the league highest scorers looked dangerous every time they broke forward.

But Spurs, to their credit, kept battling away and French midfielder Capoue slammed home an effort from close range to give Tottenham’s fans faint hopes of sealing a comeback at White Hart Lane.

However those hopes were dashed as City’s Montenegrin international Jovetic curled home his first PL goal in the 78th minute, before Kompany tapped home two minutes from time to leave no doubt about City climbing to the top of the standings after a resounding win.

- Joe Prince-Wright, NBC Sports