Spurs’ Johnson, Palhinha wreck Man City at Etihad

Tottenham Hotspur made it back-to-back Premier League victories under new manager Thomas Frank by stunning Manchester City once again at the Etihad Stadium.
Spurs came here last November and inflicted a 4-0 humbling of City in a scintillating performance, and went home once more with all three points courtesy of a resolute defensive display.
They started slowly as Omar Marmoush latched onto Pedro Porro’s loose header and squeezed a shot narrowly wide of the far post before seeing a thunderous strike from range pushed away by Guglielmo Vicario.
The Egyptian was lively early on and forced another excellent save from the Spurs goalkeeper after being played through by Erling Haaland.
With their first real threat of the game, Spurs took the lead courtesy of a lightning breakaway as Richarlison’s low cross was converted by Brennan Johnson.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but overturned following a review by the video assistant referee.
With seven minutes added on in the first half because of an injury to City left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, Spurs doubled their lead through Joao Palhinha smashing in after a loose pass from James Trafford inside his own area.
It capped a difficult few minutes for the City keeper who could have been dismissed for a collision on the edge of the box with Mohammed Kudus.
Haaland should have pulled one back before the break but headed over from close range and the home side were left frustrated in the second period as Tottenham made it consecutive clean sheets so far this season.
Tottenham have had a bruising week after a failed pursuit for winger Eberechi Eze saw the Crystal Palace player agree terms with bitter rivals Arsenal instead.
The travelling supporters made their feelings known towards chairman Daniel Levy from the first whistle with loud chants of “we want Levy out” echoing around the stadium, though they were replaced by “we love you Tottenham” by full-time.
The players who do wear the Spurs shirt responded with another tremendous showing at City’s ground, collecting their third victory in their last five visits.
Frank’s side beat Burnley convincingly in their opening game and rode their luck as City missed opportunities, but took full advantage when chances fell their way at the other end.
City were holding a high line and were made to pay as John Stones narrowly kept Richarlison onside for the Brazilian to roll the ball across from the right and Johnson made no mistake with his finish.
Spurs were pressing with precision and forced Trafford into an error, with the Englishman’s risky ball eventually dropping into the path of Palhinha to net his first goal since joining on loan from Bayern Munich.
They could have made it a more handsome scoreline in the second half but Dominic Solanke saw his low drive pushed out by Trafford late on and Wilson Odobert was also denied from the rebound.