London (AFP) – A new-look Manchester City showed familiar frailties as Tottenham strolled to a 2-0 win at the Etihad on Saturday
Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha struck for the Europa League winners just before half-time as Spurs continued a perfect start for Thomas Frank after two league games in charge.
City’s run of four consecutive Premier League titles came to a spectacular end last season as they finished a distant third behind Liverpool and Arsenal.
A 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on the opening weekend of the campaign showed glimpses of a revamped City back to their best.
However, they were again easily exposed on the counter-attack, while manager Pep Guardiola must decide who will be his number one goalkeeper after a day to forget for James Trafford.
Ederson was left on the bench amid rumours the Brazilian could join Galatasaray before the transfer window closes. City have been linked with a move for out-of-favour Paris Saint-Germain ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Tottenham took the lead on 35 minutes when Richarlison squared for Brennan Johnson to power past Trafford.
The England goalkeeper then had a moment of madness when he attempted a pass to Nico Gonzalez inside his own box.
Pape Matar Sarr intercepted and, even though the goalkeeper recovered to deny Richarlison, Palhinha smashed home the rebound.
Spurs let a two-goal lead slip late on against PSG to lose the UEFA Super Cup in Frank’s first game in charge earlier this month, but rarely looked in danger of suffering a similar fate.
“From every game you learn and games where you don’t get the result you learn even more,” said Frank.
“Defensive principles and the mentality is the key thing. We need this mentality to win games like this.”
