Tottenham stun Manchester City 2-0 at Etihad to extend perfect start under Thomas Frank

Tottenham extended their perfect start under new boss Thomas Frank by stunning Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, securing their second win of the Premier League season.

Spurs have once again proven to be City’s bogey team, taking their tally of wins at the blue half of Manchester to three from their previous five encounters, including a memorable 4-0 thrashing last November during City’s famous collapse.

In a match reported by Sky Sports, Frank’s tactical approach, reminiscent of predecessor Ange Postecoglou, exposed several of City’s key weaknesses. Under Pep Guardiola, this is only the sixth time City have trailed by two or more goals at half-time in a home league game—Tottenham are responsible for half of those instances.

Tottenham struck on the counter through Brennan Johnson, whose goal was confirmed after VAR overturned an erroneous offside decision.

Meanwhile, City’s home debutant goalkeeper James Trafford appeared far less assured on the ball than the absent Ederson, who watched from the bench amid ongoing transfer speculation.

Reflecting on Trafford’s performance, Guardiola said: “James made a good first game. I made the decision for him to continue.

The goalkeeper is a special position, and to have more consistency in goal is important, but I have learned over many years that, with this amount of games, everyone will play.”

A costly error from Trafford allowed Joao Palhinha to score his first goal in Tottenham colours in first-half stoppage time.

Despite bringing on Phil Foden and Rodri in the second half, City struggled to reproduce the creativity that had seen them score four against Wolves last weekend.

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