Thomas Frank’s flying start to life as Tottenham boss continued as Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha secured an impressive victory at Manchester City on an afternoon to forget for James Trafford.
Both sides hit the ground running on the opening weekend of the Premier League season as Spurs beat Burnley 3-0 and City won 4-0 at Wolves, with more goals expected on Saturday given these sides’ recent Etihad Stadium meetings.
Spurs scored four without reply at City last season and this time celebrated a 2-0 triumph as on-loan Palhinha capitalised on a mistake by home debutant Trafford shortly after Johnson had opened the scoring.
It was an impressive response to the disappointment of their move for Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze being hijacked by Arsenal and allowed the away fans to gleefully chant “we are top of the league”.
Tottenham deserve the plaudits but much of the post-match analysis will surround goalkeeper Trafford, who returned to the Etihad Stadium this summer in a £27million move from Burnley.
Johnson’s opener was hard to prevent but he could have been sent off for a clumsy challenge on Mohammed Kudus before his huge error allowed Palhinha to score in first half stoppage time.
Ederson, back from illness, watched from the bench as speculation about his future and City’s potential move for Paris St Germain star Gianluigi Donnarumma rumbles on.
Saturday’s match started with chances at both ends. Pedro Porro fizzed an effort into the side-netting after seeing a free-kick blocked before he gifted Omar Marmoush a chance.
The forward sent a low shot across the face of goal after collecting Porro’s poor header back, with his early directness and confidence epitomised by a 20-yard effort that called Guglielmo Vicario
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