Manchester City got back to winning ways with a 1-0 win against Tottenham that showcased their qualities across two very different halves of football.
City were outstanding in the first half and deserved more for their efforts than Erling Haaland's early goal, which came at the end of a superb free flowing move that began with an excellent turn from January arrival Omar Marmoush.
But that dominance began to ebb away in the second half and Pep Guardiola's side had to survive an onslaught as the game wore on, but a diligent defensive effort soaked up the Spurs pressure and ensured City closed the gap on both Nottingham Forest and Arsenal ahead of them.
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Dias and Haaland chat
As the City players went through their warm-ups, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland stopped for a couple of minutes to have a chat around half an hour before kick-off.
We can only guess the content of their discussion, but they were the two players who could have made the biggest difference on Sunday. City were second best in both boxes, and Dias could have strengthened their defensive quality, and Haaland would have undoubtedly added more threat in the Liverpool penalty area.
Perhaps it was as simple as that. You keep them out, and I'll put them away. Both stuck to their end of the bargain.
Nunes gets an ear-bashing
During his time at the Etihad, we've become used to Guardiola picking out players for quick coaching sessions at the end of games, but on Wednesday, he offered Matheus Nunes some instruction on the way off the pitch at half-time. It came just after Nunes had decided against playing the ball into the box in first-half stoppage time, which also angered Erling Haaland.
Guardiola waited on the touchline for an animated chat with Nunes, but he ended it by draping his arms over his shoulders and walking down the tunnel like that. To be fair to the makeshift right-back, he had enjoyed a pretty good half of football.
Haaland's plea
City's first-half dominance had long since ended when Haaland tried to press centre-back Kevin Danso into a mistake on 73 minutes, with Spurs building up a strong headwind to force their way back into the game.
Haaland briefly had Danso rattled, and the January arrival had to turn back towards his own goal before sending a square pass to Archie Gray, who had time to stroll forward and get the hosts back on the front foot.
City's Norwegian striker looked around stunned to see nobody following him into the press and allowing Tottenham an easy way out. He roared back at his static teammates and pointed to the space in front of them that Gray was advancing into. The move came to nothing but Haaland's frustration showed how the game had changed.
Guardiola's pointed instruction
The game was just under half an hour old when Guardiola stretched his arm out and pointed across to the far side of the pitch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. He had just witnessed Mateo Kovacic decide against a pass out to that flank. Guardiola's instruction was clear: get the ball to Doku at every opportunity.
The winger had the beating of Pedro Porro and was creating a chance almost every time he picked up possession
Foden's love of the ball
The City subs were the last players in after the warm-up pre-match, and Phil Foden was the last of all, ending up a good 30 yards or so behind the rest of the replacements.
As he was making his way off the pitch, a ball rolled towards Foden, and the 24-year-old couldn't resist an impudent flick up with both feet, controlling the ball on his shoulder, a couple more keepy-ups and then unleashing a 40-yard left-footed volley towards the goal.
It sailed over in the end as Foden watched on. He then turned around and realised he was the only player still left on the pitch pre-match. He hasn't been at his best this season, but this little episode was a reminder of just how much the academy graduate loves that feeling of a ball at his feet.
That is the love of the game that Foden will channel to inevitably get back to his best in the not-too-distant future.
