Manchester City have regained top spot in the Premier League table courtesy of a narrow 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Monday.
Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal of the game after just six minutes to fire City back above Liverpool and Chelsea at the summit, having extended their unbeaten start to 10 games.
The story of the match was as much about missed opportunities for a wasteful Spurs, though, as they saw their four-match winning streak in the league come to an end at the hands of the champions.
The match was preceded by an impeccably-observed silence in memory of Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter crash outside the club’s ground on Saturday evening, and it was poignant that Mahrez – such a key component in the Foxes’ success under the Thai businessman – got the decisive goal after only six minutes.
A mistake from Kieran Trippier released Raheem Sterling down the left channel on his 200th Premier League appearance, and the winger then beat Trippier inside the box before pulling the ball back for Mahrez to apply a simple finish before dedicating the goal to the man who brought him to England.
The dreadful state of the pitch – which had hosted an NFL match just a day previously – did not hamper the quality of the game as it got off to a frenetic start, with Sergio Aguero rippling the side-netting moments after the opener.
Spurs also contributed to the action-packed opening with Harry Kane blasting one long-range effort narrowly over the crossbar and Toby Alderweireld meeting a corner with a glancing header which forced the first save out of Ederson.
Tottenham failed to make the most of a number of City errors throughout the first half, with the first seeing Benjamin Mendy allow the ball to squirm under his foot, releasing Moussa Sissoko down the right. However, while Sterling had the ruthlessness to punish a similar mistake for the opening goal, Sissoko dithered for too long on the ball and his eventual pass inside was cut out by Fernandinho.
The visitors continued to look dangerous themselves, though, and Mahrez almost doubled his personal tally for the evening when his powerful effort towards the near post was turned against the upright by a smart Hugo Lloris reaction stop.
Another City mistake went unpunished when Aymeric Laporte’s header only found Erik Lamela, who in turn sent Kane through on goal. The striker’s heavy touch showed just too much of the ball to Ederson, though, allowing the keeper to avert the danger with a fine sliding challenge inside the area.
The visitors should have doubled their lead 10 minutes after the restart when Bernardo Silva’s low pass into the middle found his namesake David in the six-yard box. The off-balance Spaniard turned down a shot from point-blank range when he looked certain to score, though, and instead teed up Sterling, who saw his own strike blocked by Trippier just in front of the line.
City have now also equalled their club record of six successive Premier League clean sheets and become the first non-London based team in the competition’s history to win five successive matches in the capital.
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