Tottenham 1-0 Man City: our top 3 heroes & villains plus player ratings

Manchester City began the defence of their Premier League crown with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, courtesy of Heung-min Son’s second-half goal.

It means Pep Guardiola and City have lost on all four of their visits to Spurs’ new stadium and wraps up an enthralling opening weekend of Premier League football.

It was a tense and tight affair in North London, with Spurs showing excellent shape and composure to start the new campaign with three points on Sunday.

The heroes

• Tottenham fans: What an occasion to witness after so long away from the state-of-the-art ground, beating the champions while welcoming in a new manager.
• Nuno Espirito Santo: Speaking of the new boss, that’s some way to introduce yourself. The Portuguese set his side up magnificently and City couldn’t deal with Spurs’ counter attacks.
• Japhet Tanganga: The youngster played at right-back on Sunday and dealt superbly with Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish, with the latter tending to drift wide.

The villains

• Benjamin Mendy: The Frenchman put in a defensively naive display and couldn’t deal with the pace and movement of Lucas Moura. He was even replaced in the second period after a torrid afternoon.
• Pep Guardiola: The City manager couldn’t get to grips with Tottenham’s counter attacking, nor find a way past the hosts’ organised defence.
• Harry Kane: Not involved for Tottenham today, the striker will come away from this game more discussed than several of those on the pitch.

Player ratings

Tottenham (4-3-3): Lloris 7; Tanganga 9 (Doherty 83; 6), Sanchez 7, Dier 7, Reguilon 7; Hojbjerg 8 (Romero 90), Skipp 8; Alli 7; Moura 8, Son 8, Bergwijn 8 (Lo Celso 77; 6)

Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson 5; Cancelo 5, Dias 5, Ake 5, Mendy 3 (Zinchenko 79; 6); Fernandinho 4, Gundogan 5, Mahrez 6 (De Bruyne 79; 6), Grealish 6, Sterling 5 (Jesus 70; 5); Torres 6

What’s next for Man City?

After the tough trip to the capital, the champions face a slightly less daunting task at home to Norwich City next Saturday.

The Canaries began the campaign with a 3-0 loss to Liverpool this weekend, having gained promotion from the Championship last season.

By the time Guardiola’s men are back in action they could have an answer on the Kane saga, with reports continuing to swirl around the England captain’s future.