Tottenham Hotspur continued their magical run at the Etihad stadium and maintain their 100 percent record in the Premier League 2025-26 season with a 2-0 win over a lacklustre Manchester City side on Saturday, August 23. This was Spurs’ third win in five matches at the Etihad as they took full advantage of a goal from Brennan Johnson and a blunder from City goalkeeper James Trafford.
Both teams came into the back on strong wins with City beating Wolves 4-0 and Spurs dispatching Burnley 3-0. City and Spurs started the match by squandering a lot of good chances before Johnson broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, which was down to some lazy defending by Rico Lewis. A good pass saw Richarlison break the defensive line and put in a pass to the Welsh forward, who slotted it home. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR intervened to allow the lead for Spurs to stand.
The visitors then doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time when Trafford had a moment to forget. The City goalkeeper’s attempt to play from the back failed and Richarlison pounced on the loose pass to gain possession. He then put the ball on a plate for Palhinha, who simply put the ball into the net.
The second half saw City start with some more energy and almost had a chance to pull one back when Vicario made an error. However, Cherki’s attempt to get the ball was deemed as a foul before the Cityt man was taken off.
Pep Guardiola rang in the changes to mount a comeback, but Spurs were resolute in defence and kept thwarting the attempts from City. The visitors did have the chance to make it 3-0 before Trafford made amends for his earlier howler with a double save to deny Dominic Solanke and Wilson Odobert.
The win made Thomas Frank the third manager to beat Guardiola away in the league with two differents as he joined Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. The win put Spurs at the top of the table for now as City were in fifth spot.