Christian Eriksen’s late winner has pushed Manchester City onto the periphery of the title race, whilst Pochettino’s Spurs continued their march towards their first Premier League crown.
Following on from Arsenal’s earlier dramatic victory, Spurs knew they could go back up to second if they won at the Etihad and an all-round performance helped them to overcome Pellegrini’s men. Raheem Sterling’s arm was misplaced to award Spurs a penalty, which Harry Kane neatly tucked away to take the lead.
Later on, Kelechi Iheanacho swept in a cross as the youngster continues to prove himself as a long-term prospect for the Sky Blues. However, the game was decided when Erik Lamela drove towards the City defence and Christian Eriksen calmly slid the ball in to give himself the most heroic of birthday presents.
City fans must be hugely excited for Pep Guardiola’s arrival as their form continues to fluctuate during the second half of the season.
Here are FIVE things we learned from the massive success for the Lilywhites…
Vince can’t do it all
However much the City captain does, he cannot do it all when against the league’s best sides.
Kompany was partnered with Nicolas Otamendi and the defence parted like the red sea as they allowed Christian Eriksen to score the winner.
Cold as ice
Kane, by his own spectacular standards, was not at his best today, as he misplaced passes and failed to trouble Kompany and Otamendi as much as he usually would.
However, when the England man got his chance, albeit from the spot, he showed nerves of steal to calmly finish the opportunity and put City firmly on the back foot.
The real deal..
Spurs, to the joy of their fans, leap frogged Arsenal once more with their victory over Manchester City and look as likely for the title as anyone.
Pochettino would, if it wasn’t for Ranieri, be walking to manager of the year and has built another side who are both a pleasure to watch and incredibly hard to beat.
You’d be a brave man to bet against Spurs going all the way now, they’ve lost many of their Spursy tendencies..!
Kev can survive
The injury to Jan Vertonghen left a lot of Spurs fans concerned about the left centre-back position, but Kevin Wimmer has stepped into the position comfortably and impressed alongside Alderweireld.
Alderweireld is currently the best defender in the league and Wimmer must be glad he has such a calm player next to him.
Sterling settling..
Sterling is yet to make the sort of impact at Manchester City that he would have hoped for.
Even if you ignore the dodgy penalty he conceded, the England winger had a tendency to run into cul-de-sacs and was not the same threat as he was believed to be when he was at Liverpool.
Sides who sit so deep tend to cause problems for the ex-QPR youngster and he has a long way to go before he will have convinced anyone that he is fully settled at the club.
