Having missed last week’s defeats against Real Madrid and Liverpool, it was a reminder of the impact our clinical finisher can make.
Haaland even thought he’d put the icing on the cake in the dying moments after stroking past Guglielmo Vicario but he instead saw the strike ruled out for handball.
City could have put the game out of sight in the first half but were instead forced to work hard for a clean sheet and the three points as the hosts improved after the break.
The hard-fought win moves us back into the top four of the Premier League with 11 games remaining.
After four successive league defeats without a goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium following its opening, we have now been successful on our last two trips to the top-flight’s newest venue.
What happened
The match began at a furious pace until City were able to slow the game down and settle into our passing rhythm.
Our first major opening of the evening came in the seventh minute, as Matheus Nunes sprinted to the byline and pulled back for Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian dug out a first-time volley with his right foot that Guglielmo Vicario pouched on his line.
Our returning No.9’s eyes widened just seconds later when racing onto a pass over the top, but Vicario got to the ball a fraction of a second before the striker.
The inevitable opener finally came in the 12th minute as Jeremy Doku squared up Pedro Porro on the left wing and threaded a pass to a waiting Haaland six yards out.
He made no mistake for his 20th Premier League goal of the season and his 10th away from the Etihad.
With that, he became only the second player after Ruud van Nistelrooy to hit 20 in their first three seasons in the Premier League and second after Harry Kane to score 10+ goals home and away in three consecutive terms in our division.
Our next major opening came shortly before the half hour mark and Doku was again the source.
Released down the left, he whipped the ball across goal ahead of Spurs’ retreating defence and into the path of Savinho. The Brazilian hit his shot directly into the floor and saw it clear the bar.
Asweeping move from right to left followed only moments later, with Doku again passing into Haaland’s path.
In a similar position to where he had scored less than 20 minutes prior, our man this time saw Vicario block his shot with a desperate leap.
It was a siege by that point and Pep Guardiola’s frustrations only grew as Savinho sat Destiny Udogie down before hammering the ball into Kevin Danso’s body.
We were almost made to pay for those spurned chances on the cusp of half-time, when Ederson had to be alert to tip over Danso’s glancing header.
The second half started in a similar vein to the majority of the first 45 though, with City immediately on the front foot.
Doku had the first shot in anger after the break, stepping in off his wing and angling an effort far wide of Vicario’s post.
Our wingers continued to stretch Spurs’ defence to its fullest, standing on the touchline and waiting for the pass before cutting in.
Savinho was the next to pull the trigger, following excellent work and a raking cross-field pass from Josko Gvardiol. However, the Brazilian again saw his shot blocked.
Spurs’ catalyst for an energetic finish came just seconds later, with Wilson Odobert flinging himself at Porro’s low cross but failing to squeeze it inside the back post.
Ederson was soon tested again, as Odobert’s shot was deflected up in the air off Nunes.
It would have looped in if not for the quick feet and swinging claw of our goalkeeper.
On-loan striker Mathys Tel should then have levelled the scores, with Udogie stealing the ball off Savinho and driving into our final third before supplying his team-mate.
All connected with City were relieved as Tel’s touch crawled wide of Ederson’s post, but the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was suddenly alive with hope.
Substitutes Heung-min Son and Pape Matar Sarr then linked up, with the latter’s shot headed clear by Gvardiol, who had read the play brilliantly to position himself in front of goal.
Spurs’ talismanic Korean forward then had their golden opportunity to take a point with just over five minutes remaining, turning a cross towards goal only for the diving Ederson to make a stunning stop.
In the same goal where Stefan Ortega Moreno all but sealed last year’s Premier League title by denying Son, Ederson’s intervention was enough to guarantee our eighth Premier League clean sheet of the season.
With just seconds left, Haaland thought he’d added our second after emerging from a clash with Danso to stroke into the corner of the goal.
However, his celebrations were cut shot by the referee’s whistle before VAR agreed with Jarred Gillett’s decision that the Norwegian had used his arm.
It mattered little in the grand scheme of things, as City claimed all three points.
Teams
CITY XI: Ederson, Nunes, Khusanov, Dias (C), Gvardiol, Nico (Bernardo 73), Kovacic (Gundogan 90), Savinho (McAtee 90), Marmoush (Foden 73), Doku (Grealish 90), Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Ake, De Bruyne, Lewis
SPURS XI: Vicario, Porro, Gray, Danso, Udogie, Bergvall, Bentancur (Sarr 67), Maddison (C) (Werner 82), Johnson, Tel (Kulusevski 66), Odobert (Son 67)
Subs: Kinsky, Reguilon, Spence, Bissouma, Scarlett
Pep Guardiola reaction
“In the second half we suffer but we should have closed it in the first. But for Champions League qualification, it was an incredibly good result for us,” Pep reflected.
“Eddy was good. The defending was good, Ruben and Khusanov was extraordinary, Josko and Matheus again and in the end a good result for us.
“For sure [the goal] it’s the future. We have a young, young team.
“The three up front is the future. Nico when Rodri come back will be the future. Khusanov, you have seen it today and Josko is young.
“Bernardo, Gundo and Kevin and the other ones are still really important. It’s a question of time and new acquisitions we will do in the summer have to lead the club for years.”
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Man of the match
Ederson - Our brilliant Brazilian is mostly revered for his world-class distribution skills, but this performance was an excellent reminder of his prowess when it comes to goalkeeping fundamentals.
He made six pivotal saves, including a stunning late diving stop from Heung-min Son, as we battled to an eighth clean sheet of the Premier League season.
Spurs’ xG of more than one goal shows that on another day, the hosts could easily have earned a point.
Instead they came up against a goalkeeper who has proven over his seven-and-a-half seasons in England to be one of the Premier League era’s very, very best.
Haaland reaction
“Happy. [It’s an] important three points, that’s what we need.
“I think Jeremy [Doku] did a really good game and he should have had more assists today.
“It was a great goal and good to get the ball from Jeremy. It’s not easy to know when to get the ball, it was lucky as well with the deflection there.”
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Goal machine
Erling Haaland didn’t need long to highlight exactly what we missed in last week’s defeats against Real Madrid and Liverpool.
In fact, the opener came from a situation that Jeremy Doku found himself in on multiple occasions after beating Trent Alexander-Arnold on Sunday.
However, this time the Belgian had Haaland to aim for. Despite the Norwegian’s size and stature, he strolled into space and was an easy target for the winger to pick out.
His casual finish took him to 20 goals in the Premier League this season and 83 in total in just 93 games in the English top-flight.
He also became only the second player after Harry Kane to score 10+ goals home and away in three consecutive Premier League seasons.
It may go without saying, but with the No.9 on the pitch City really can score at any moment.
What it means
The victory moves us to 47 points from 27 games and back into the top four of the Premier League.
We have won 14 of our matches, drawn five and lost eight.
What’s next
We host Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday 1 March at 17:45 (UK).
Our next Premier League assignment sees us go to Nottingham Forest for a 12:30 (UK) start on Saturday 8 March.
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