The German hauled City level on the half hour after Dejan Kulusevski had handed the visitors an early lead, but a Harry Kane brace ensured Spurs came away from the Etihad Stadium with a 3-2 victory.
It was Pep Guardiola’s men’s first defeat in 15 matches and saw our lead at the Premier League summit cut to six points.
However, Gundogan believes the setback will help him and his teammates kick on once again in our pursuit of a fourth title in five seasons.
He reflected: “We know there is still a long way to go and the season is still long.
“Maybe this is a good sign for us that nothing is given and we need to earn every single three points.
“We will try to recover and be ready for the next game.”
Despite the defeat, Gundogan also felt City put in a decent performance against Antonio Conte’s side.
Indeed, the German instead points to the clinical nature of our opponents as the reason for the result rather than a specific deficiency in our play.
“I think we did a good game and we created a lot of chances. We played well, better than the score line says,” he said.
“Tottenham did well to control these types of situations. They timed their runners well and were ruthless on the counterattack.
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“They were able to score three goals and that shows their quality up front. I think it was difficult because we made it difficult for ourselves.
“We controlled the whole game and I remember Tottenham defending so deep. The risk was quite minimal for us in a lot of situations.
“But if you give them the ball easily and they are on the counter-attack, you have to sprint back 50 or 60 metres.
“I think that made them feel that there is something to earn here today, especially after scoring the first goal.”
