Tottenham haunt Man City again, Villa lost at Brentford

MANCHESTER :It took 10 Premier League games for the first cracks to appear in Manchester City's facade last season, but Pep Guardiola got a much earlier reminder of his side's fall from grace on Saturday in another defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

The optimism of City's opening-weekend romp at Wolverhampton Wanderers quickly evaporated as their first home game of the season ended in a 2-0 loss to the London club.

Goals by Brennan Johnson and new loan signing Joao Palhinha before halftime - the second after a bad error by City keeper James Trafford - gave Tottenham momentum to maintain their great start to the season under new manager Thomas Frank.

Aston Villa are still to register a goal after two games as they went down 1-0 at Brentford while Bournemouth also earned their first points of the season with a 1-0 home win against Wolves.

Burnley ensured that all three promoted clubs have a win after two rounds of fixtures as they beat fellow newcomers Sunderland 2-0 at Turf Moor.

Later on Saturday, Arsenal were hosting Leeds United.

TOTTENHAM AGAIN

When Tottenham beat Manchester City on the opening day of the 2020-21 season it proved of no consequence as Guardiola's side went on to win the first of four successive titles.

Last season a 4-0 home loss in November was proof that their reign of domination was coming to an end.

Guardiola is beginning a new chapter at The Etihad Stadium with several of his serial trophy winners now having left. But the Tottenham problem remains unsolved.

He has now lost eight of his last 15 matches in all competitions against Tottenham, who always seem to relish facing City whatever the state of their own form.

Tottenham, also at the start of a new journey under Frank, endured a frustrating week as their hopes