Manchester City only sit six points above Liverpool after suffering a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in a thrilling Premier League clash on Saturday night.
Result: Manchester City 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Date: 19 February 2022
Venue: Etihad
Defender Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan started from City's win over Sporting Lisbon, as Spurs had four changes in Emerson Royal, Davinson Sanchez, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Dejan Kulusevski.
The Swede's entry was justified as early as the fourth minute when he connected with a layoff from Heung-Min Son to slot into a gaping net with goalkeeper Ederson Moraes in no man's land.
Although this set-back didn't rattle the league leaders minutes later as a move left of the area from Raheem Sterling led to a cross for Gundogan, who took aim and curled off the upright.
It took the German international three minutes from the half-hour mark to amend as he charged onto a loose ball in the area to bundle home after a goalkeeping error from Hugo Lloris.
The visitors made a slow start to the second half, as City with their tails up searched the front foot from a flick at the near post by Ruben Dias off a corner-kick by Kevin De Bruyne.
It wasn't all doom and gloom for Antonio Conte's men who regained the lead 12 minutes in when Harry Kane sneaked into the defensive lines of City to guide Son's delivery past Ederson.
Spurs appeared to have gone three goals up towards the last ten minutes when Kane finished off a square pass from Kulusevski, but it was disallowed after the latter had strayed offside.
As City applied countless pressure in the closing exchanges, Spurs freshened up their stall with Son removed and Lucas Moura introduced from the dugout.
There was late drama in stoppage time when the pitch-side monitor ruled a hand used by Cristian Romero in the area and awarded City a penalty which Riyad Mahrez riffled home to level the scorers.
However, Spurs had the final say after Kane rose above Kyle Walker to head past Ederson and sealed maximum points for the North London outfit.
