What went wrong for Man City vs Tottenham as old problem returns

The shambolic decision of referee Simon Hooper to pull play back when Jack Grealish was through on goal will dominate the narrative this week, but Pep Guardiola knows there are far more pressing issues after seeing his Manchester City side drop more points in the title race.

He accepted that Hooper got the decision wrong, but correctly said that it had no bearing on the reason for City's third straight draw in the Premier League, this time against Tottenham after twice leading and only trailing for three minutes in the game. They have conceded 95th, 80th and 90th-minute equalisers against Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs in a testing run that has laid bare their defensive shortcomings this season.

After conceding just 14 goals in their first 18 games in all competitions this season, they have shipped ten in their last four, with their expected goals against doubling. As much as we have become accustomed to City's irresistible attacking qualities, they have mostly been paired with brilliant, resolute defensive units. In the last three weeks, that brick wall at the back has been shown to have some concerning structural damage.

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What is most concerning is that Guardiola admitted that City have a problem in the Champions League when it comes to conceding avoidable goals on the break, with Leipzig scoring twice after individual errors in the week just like they did for their only goal in Germany - and just like Red Star and Young Boys did in their respective games.

He will not be happy to see Tottenham break from box to box in just two passes, with Heung-min