Tottenham Hotspur hung on for a 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup in North London on Wednesday to hand Pep Guardiola’s side their first loss of the season thus far.
The win sent Tottenham through to the quarterfinals of the competition and keeps their boss Ange Postecoglou in with a chance of fulfilling his promise to win a trophy in his second season as coach of the club after a superb attacking display.
City made seven changes form the side that beat Southampton 1-0 at the weekend — which included Erling Haaland sitting out the entire game — and they were opened up early as Spurs quickly played through their press.
Dejan Kulusevski picked out Timo Werner in the box, and the German striker lashed the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.
Pape Matar Sarr got the second in the 25th minute after the ball found its way to him outside the penalty area following a well-worked corner, and the Senegal midfielder curled it brilliantly inside the right-hand post.
City pulled one back in first-half stoppage time as Matheus Nunes connected with a cross from Savinho to score with their first effort on target.
Having already lost key players this season, Guardiola said he wanted his side to perform well with no injuries, but unfortunately Savinho picked up a knock that saw him stretchered off in the 62nd minute.
That robbed City of some of their momentum, but Nico O’Reilly still almost grabbed a late equaliser, only for substitute Yves Bissouma to clear the ball off the line as Spurs hung on for a 2-1 victory.
