Manchester City troubles reappear as solid Spurs go top after 2-0 win

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s troubles from last season were exposed once more in a humbling 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Saturday that raised questions over their quest to regain the Premier League title.

Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha struck for the Europa League winners just before half-time as Spurs went top of the table, making it a perfect start for Thomas Frank after two league games in charge.

“Extremely proud of the players, exceptionally good performance,” said Frank.

“The mentality is the key thing. We need this mentality to win games like this.”

City’s run of four consecutive titles came to a spectacular end last season as they finished a distant third behind Liverpool and Arsenal.

A 4-0 thrashing of Wolves on the opening weekend of the campaign showed glimpses of a new-look City back to their best.

However, a series of defensive issues remain unresolved, while manager Pep Guardiola must decide on who will be his number one goalkeeper going forward after a day to forget for James Trafford.

“We missed the simple things,” lamented Guardiola.

“Of course we have to improve, but I said the same after Wolves.”

Trafford retained his place in goal despite the return to fitness of Ederson.

The Brazilian is reportedly on the verge of joining Turkish giants Galatasaray, which would free up City to make a move for out-of-favor Paris Saint-Germain ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City’s failure to get those deals done before the final week of the transfer window came back to haunt them in a familiar tale for Guardiola’s men against Tottenham.

In the last 13 Premier League meetings between the sides, City have won just four despite several changes of management at Spurs in that time.

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