Steven Bergwijn marked his debut with a superb volley. Tottenham won a bad-tempered Premier League affair with 10-man Manchester City to boost their top-four hopes.
City was reduced to 10 men after Oleksandr Zinchenko picked up two needless yellows. Thereafter, debutant Bergwijn’s superb chest down an instinctive volley from inside the box gave Spurs the lead with their first shot on goal.
Tottenham got their second as Heung-Min Son’s low effort from the edge deflected off Fernandinho’s foot and flew past Ederson.
All goals came after a first half in which City dominated before more VAR drama.
Sergio Aguero had hit the post earlier on. But the VAR stole the headlines in the first half. Serge Aurier gave away a penalty via a delayed VAR decision for a foul on the Argentine.
Ilkay Gundogan’s spot-kick was saved by Hugo Lloris. Before, VAR then checked of Lloris had brought Raheem Sterling down at the ensuing rebound. But VAR confirmed he had not and stuck with Mike Dean’s call of no penalty.
How Tottenham sent City into packing
Before the game, Mourinho said he wanted his side to be offensive despite the lack of a natural striker.
There was early controversy as VAR checked a studs-up challenge from Sterling on Dele Alli. Though the decision remained as nothing more than a yellow, Mourinho described it as a clear red card.
Aguero came closest to the dominant City. The Argentine hit the foot of the post via Lloris’ foot after Riyad Mahrez capitalized on some clumsy Spurs defending to slip him through.
Aurier clipped Aguero in the box. Despite waving away the appeal at first, Mike Dean stopped play a minute later to award the spot-kick via VAR Kevin Friend.
Tottenham’s fury turned to jubilation. Lloris saved low down to his left from Gundogan. As Lloris looked to gather the rebound ahead of Sterling, he initially looked to catch the England International for another spot-kick.
It was looked up by Var but Dean’s call of no penalty was upheld. Both sets of players were involved in a scuffle. Mourinho furiously waved his arms at fourth official Graham Scott after the mayhem.
Zinchenko was then dismissed for a cynical shove on Harry Winks near halfway. City then fell apart. Bergwijn repaid some of that fee immediately. He broke the deadlock, chested down from inside the box before volleying low through the crowd and past Ederson.
Tottenham got their second as Son wriggled free outside the box. The South Korean saw his fierce effort flick off Fernandinho’s foot and into the bottom left corner.
City huffed and puffed to halve the deficit. But their numerical deficit made it an uphill task. Guardiola went back-to-back games without scoring for the first time.
The results, therefore, mean Tottenham closes the gap on fourth-place Chelsea to four points.