Riyad Mahrez hogged the spotlight with a dazzling performance for Manchester City as they trounced Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 at the Etihad. The Algerian winger helped the champions recover from two goals down to win the game.
Having lost controversially to Manchester United at the weekend, City were looking to avoid back-to-back league defeats for the first time since 2018.
The Cityzens ran the show throughout the first half, dominating possession and leaving their opponents chasing shadows. With the half coming to an end, Tottenham hit them with a double sucker punch.
A poor pass from Ederson saw Rodri dispossessed on the edge of his box and Tottenham worked it to Swedish winger Dejan Kulusevski, who swept the ball home to open the scoring for the visitors in the 45th minute.
Manchester City had hardly settled when Spurs found a second following another defensive gaffe. John Stones cleared the ball into the path of Kulusevski, who played in Harry Kane. The striker saw his cross into the box parried by Ederson into the path of Emerson Royal, who headed into an unguarded net for his first goal of the season. There were only two minutes and six seconds between both Tottenham goals and Manchester City were booed off the pitch by their own fans.
Upon the resumption of proceedings, Manchester City looked like a different side to the one that played the first half. They showed more endeavour and guile and were rewarded as Julian Alvarez pulled one back in the 51st minute. The Argentine striker was on hand to smash the ball into the net after Hugo Lloris palmed a cross from Mahrez into his path inside the box.
Two minutes later, City were level. Quick combination play in attack saw Mahrez played in with a ball over the top. The Algerian winger headed the ball across goal for Erling Haaland to head home his 22nd goal of the season in the Premier League.
Manchester City continued to dominate and added a third after 63 minutes. Mahrez received a pass from Rodri before motoring past his marker and firing a right-footed shot that beat Lloris at his near post.
The Algerian winger helped seal a comprehensive win for the champions in the 90th minute as he took advantage of poor defending from substitute Clement Lenglet to latch onto a pass from Ederson and coolly dink the ball over the onrushing Lloris.
Manchester City claimed all three points to narrow the gap to Arsenal to five points, although the league leaders have played one game less. Tottenham still look inconsistent, piling pressure on manager Antonio Conte.
