Tottenham Hotspur maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season under Thomas Frank with a superb 2-0 victory over Manchester City to make it two wins from two matches.
First-half strikes from Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha, on his full debut, proved decisive at the Etihad Stadium, where Spurs have now gone three seasons unbeaten, after a 4-0 win last season and a 3-3 draw in 2023/24.
Johnson capped a fine move to open the scoring, while Palhinha punished sloppy City play to double Spurs’ lead.
And Pep Guardiola’s below-par side, who put four past Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening weekend, could not find a response as they slipped to only their second home league defeat of 2025.
With six points from six, Spurs at least temporarily, moved to the top of the table, while City must lick their wounds after an underwhelming display.
How the match unfolded
Despite losing Rayan Ait-Nouri to injury early on, City built up momentum over the opening 30 minutes, with Omar Marmoush twice denied by Guglielmo Vicario.
Yet Spurs dealt the first blow in the 35th minute as Johnson swept home Richarlison’s cross following a swift break, with the goal awarded following a VAR review after it was initially ruled out for offside.
James Trafford was perhaps fortunate to escape punishment for a handball outside City’s area when he aimed to prevent Mohammed Kudus getting in on goal, though the home goalkeeper’s luck ran out in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, when his risky pass was cut out by Pape Matar Sarr, and Palhinha duly slammed in.
Erling Haaland headed over from a decent opportunity before the break, while substitute Rodri – making his return from an injury sustained in pre-season – nodded straight at Vicario in the 76th minute.
It was Spurs who went closest to scoring again, though, with Trafford making a smart double save to prevent Dominic Solanke and Wilson Odobert from adding further gloss late on.
An early City slip-up
Defeats in the EFL Cup and the league to Spurs – with the second of those being a heavy home loss – kickstarted City’s dip in form last season, and Guardiola will be hoping there is no repeat of such a drop this time around.
City made a statement of intent last weekend as they opened the season with a 4-0 rout of Wolves, and they looked eager to pick up from where they left off, with plenty of positive spells in the early exchanges despite not creating too many clear opportunities.
Although Ederson was available after illness, the Brazilian – who is reportedly the subject of interest from Turkish side Galatasaray – had to settle for a place on the bench as Guardiola stuck with Trafford between the posts.
But the young goalkeeper will likely be desperate to put this game out of his mind. Trafford's ill-advised ball to Nico Gonzalez inside the City box was pounced on by Sarr, and subsequently punished by Palhinha's finish for Spurs’ second goal, and the former Burnley star looked nervy throughout.
Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku were introduced early in the second half – with Rodri and Phil Foden following later – but City never looked likely to find a way back into the contest, with Haaland often isolated. In fact, tame efforts from Rodri and Foden represented City’s only attempts on target after half-time.
Guardiola will be demanding a response, and next up for Man City is a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.
More Etihad success for Spurs
Frank enjoyed a winning start to his Premier League reign at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Spurs sweeping promoted Burnley aside 3-0 last weekend.
While this was always going to be a different test for Spurs, they had fond memories to draw on at the Etihad Stadium, where they were winners last season and had found the net at least twice in each of their four previous Premier League visits – a run that has now been extended to five trips.
Spurs had Vicario to thank for coming out on top in his personal battle with Marmoush inside the opening 30 minutes, with the goalkeeper denying the winger from point-black range.
Frank’s side then demonstrated their clinical edge at the other end, springing the offside trap to draw first blood, before an aggressive press in City’s area led to their second goal.
A couple of last-ditch defensive interventions ensured City were kept at bay in the second half, and Frank will look to make it three wins from three when Spurs host AFC Bournemouth next weekend.
Club reports
Man City report | Spurs report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: “It’s just the second game. Last game against Wolves, everyone said everything it’s fine and I said it’s just one game and a lot is going to happen."
Thomas Frank: “The big, big thing is how we press from a goal kick. “That’s also linked to the high pressure, and as you see we go man-to-man, and that’s big for us.”
Next fixtures
Key facts
Spurs are only the second side to win away to a Guardiola managed team in back-to-back league seasons after Manchester United, who achieved the feat in 2019/20 and 2020/21.
Having also won with Brentford in November 2022, Spurs’ Thomas Frank became only the third manager to beat Guardiola away from home in the league with two different clubs, after Jose Mourinho (Real Madrid & Man Utd) and Antonio Conte (Chelsea & Spurs).
This was only the sixth time under Guardiola that Man City trailed a Premier League home game by 2+ goals at half-time, with Spurs now responsible for half of those (3/6), including three of the last four (also January 2023 & November 2024).
Spurs are the first side ever to score the first goal in five consecutive Premier League away matches at the Etihad Stadium, and only the second to do so away to Man City at all in the competition, after Blackburn Rovers from 1993 to 2002.