1 Earn the right to play
The tempo of the game was relentless from the first whistle and at times the game became overly physical.
City didn’t shrink from the challenge, but stuck to the footballing principles Pep Guardiola has ingrained, battled and earned the right to win the game.
2 Gundogan gain
The Germany midfielder ghosted into the box to head home unmarked for the opener and he seemed to grow in confidence thereafter.
A shoulder dropped here, a stepover there, we had a glimpse into the Gundogan trickbox and we liked what we saw!
The more minutes he gets, the better his condition will become and we can look forward to plenty more performances like this.
The flipped pass with the outside of his boot in the run up to Sterling’s first goal was a joy to behold.
3 Electric Sane
Spurs simply couldn’t cope with the winger‘s electric pace, especially in the first half.
He takes off from a standing start like a Formula One car and he repeatedly breached Spurs’ last line to pull dangerous balls back.
When he finds space down the flank like he did before his assist for the third goal, he is almost unstoppable.
4 De Bruyne brilliance
The Etihad Stadium crowd was still bristling from Dele Alli’s challenge on De Bruyne when the Belgian bolted down the inside channel and thundered a left-footed shot pas Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea, Leicester and now Spurs have felt the full force of De Bruyne’s ‘wrong’ foot in what is turning into a virtuoso season from the 26-year-old.
