Manchester City 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur: Five things you may have missed from the Etihad

Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur played out one of the games of the season on Saturday, with Spurs coming away from the Etihad with three vital points.

It was Dejan Kulusevski who opened the scoring on four minutes, before Ilkay Gundogan stroked the ball into the goal and levelled the score before the break.

But in the second period, Harry Kane really came to the fore and slotted home from Heung-min Son’s cross just before the hour, while the England captain had a goal ruled out for offside soon after.

Riyad Mahrez equalised again for City in injury-time after Cristian Romero handled in the box and gave away a penalty, but Kane had one last trick up his sleeve and the Spurs striker ghosted into the box and diverted an injury-tim header past Ederson in the home goal.

But there was so much more to talk about from this game away from the goals - we’ve picked five major talking points you may have missed.

Kane’s phenomenal showing

After that summer transfer saga, it was inevitable Kane was going to be the headline writer on Saturday evening, but even for his standards that was an excellent display.

Social media was awash with praise for the 28-year-old after the match, with Jamie Carragher claiming it was one of the best performances he’s seen this season.

Meanwhile, there was a humorous moment at the Etihad when the away end chanted Kane was ‘one of their own’, which was met with a few ironic cheers from the home fans after the attacker’s public and extended attempt to leave the club in the summer.

Taylor’s tough evening

Who’d be a referee? Even in the midst of an exceptional game, there were plenty of irate shouts and chants directed at Anthony Taylor.

In truth, he could have done a little more to cut down on the visitors’ time wasting, but in general it was a good display from the official and he got the big moments right at the Etihad.

Despite that, he did have Antonio Conte on his back at one stage when Kane went down with an injury and City refused to kick the ball out, while the home supporters felt the striker was play-acting.

How the table looks

The consequence of Saturday’s result means Liverpool are now just six points behind City in the table, with a game in hand on the champions.

That match actually takes place on Wednesday, when Jurgen Klopp’s men host Leeds United in a clash that could prove significant at both ends of the table.

City also have a few important games on the horizon as well, and their next home fixture sees them come up against Manchester United in the Manchester derby, while they play Liverpool at the Etihad on 9 April, a game which could be a title-decider.

Unbeaten record

Prior to the visit of Tottenham, City had been unbeaten in the league since October, when Crystal Palace came away with a 2-0 win from the Etihad.

That was an unbeaten record that extended to 15 matches, 14 of which had been wins. The loss on Saturday was also just the Sky Blues’ third defeat in the league this season, with the other coming on the opening day to Tottenham.

Double trouble

That loss to Spurs in August obviously means the North-London club have done the league double over City.

This is actually just the fourth time that has happened to Pep Guardiola in his career, the others being Chelsea (2016-17), Manchester United (2019-20) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (2019-20), as per Opta.

It was Conte in charge at Stamford Bridge when City lost twice five years ago, so the Italian is now responsible for half of the league doubles Guardiola has suffered in his managerial career.

Conte even has an edge now on the Catalan when it comes to head-to-head meetings, with the former Inter boss winning three and losing two of their encounters.