Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur played out a cagey affair in the opening fixture of the season, with Spurs grabbing all three points on Sunday evening. 

City dominated the opening moments of the game, but both sides had close opportunities. Lucas Moura came closest, with Ilkay Gundogan blocking his effort off the line.

It was all square at the break, but moments into the second half, Spurs grabbed the lead. 

A glorious whipping effort from Heung Min Son was guided past Ederson, to give Spurs the opening goal of their 2021/22 campaign. 

Despite City's efforts, they couldn't break down the Tottenham defence, and Spurs held on to win all three points and defeat the reigning champions. 

  • Story of the Game

City came out of the blocks from the off, as they usually do with an extremely high tempo in the opening moments of the game. 

The first moment of the game was started from City's new star signing. Jack Grealish was fouled on the edge of the area to win a free kick in a dangerous position. 

Gundogan stepped up and his curling effort was tipped over by Hugo Lloris. From the short corner, Benjamin Mendy whipped a cross towards the head of Fernandinho, Lloris appeared in no man's land, with the Brazilians header falling inches wide. 

It was a start all City fans would've wanted, bar the ball actually going in the back of the net. A diagonal ball from Mendy found Riyad Mahrez, whose cross was cleared, but Joao Cancelo pounced from nowhere inside the area, to drag his effort wide. 

After dominating the opening quarter of the match, Spurs started to find their feet and it was them who came closest to opening the scoring. 

A free-kick whipped in towards Davinson Sanchez, Ederson, like Lloris previously, appeared into nowhere and Sanchez headed into the air. The ball fell straight into the feet of Moura, who connected beautifully with a vicious strike towards the goal, heroically, Gundogan was in a position to block off the line.

On another drive on City’s left-hand side, Steven Bergwijn found space behind Mendy, laying the ball back to Son, whose shot was blocked, and luckily for City, Moura was offside for the rebound.

Potentially, the best chance of the first-half for the Cityzens came at the feet of Mahrez. Raheem Sterling's deflected cross, bounced straight to Mahrez, who scuffed his attempt way wide of the goal. 

A clear game-plan for Spurs was to counter City throughout the first half, and a deflected effort from the danger man Son kept the game at a stalemate at the break. 

It was Spurs who came out with the desire in the second half, with a couple of half-chances inside the opening five minutes. 

And that desire turned into fortune. It was another counter, Son was found on the left, he drove at Nathan Ake, moved onto his left and bent his effort into the bottom corner to give Spurs the lead. 

City’s evening nearly fell into turmoil moments later, with a deflected challenge on Moura, came off the toes of Ruben Dias to guide Bergwijn with a free-run on goal. The Dutchman took the opportunity on his left foot and was unable to keep his shot on target.

An opportunity arose for Grealish to steal the headlines in the final 15 minutes of the match. Gabriel Jesus played a cute ball behind the Spurs defence, Grealish latched onto the ball and went for goal, but a tight angle prevented him from getting any real direction on the strike, with Lloris easily saving. 

Spurs held on and even went for a second. The back four of Tottenham stayed strong till the final moments, and the whistle came and it was an opening day defeat for the Cityzens.

  • Takeaways

No invincibles this season...

Even though it's more than unlikely for any side, with the amount of competition in the Premier League this season, City's chances of pulling off an invincible season have been ended.

In a game, where City dominated possession, they struggled to take the opportunities that came for them, and Spurs simply took theirs. 

City faces Norwich at the Etihad Stadium next Saturday. They'll be desperate to get their first three points on the board. 

No dream debut for Grealish...

It wasn't exactly a day to forget for Grealish, with his performance not being the worst on the field. He was more involved in the first half, creating a few chances here and there. 

In the second half, Grealish appeared to be quiet, except for the late opportunity he had. 

So, the Englishman can be disappointed with the result, but not too disheartened with his performance.

No goals for City...

It wasn't a game where City was filled with chances, but they did have early opportunities to score and run away with the game. 

Spurs were there for the taking in the opening moments, with City dominating the play and creating all the chances.

City allowed Spurs into the game, and they took the opportunities when they come begging. 

Ferran Torres was impressive overall in the opening fixture, but could a potential striker be in Pep Guardiola's thoughts after this one. 

  • Starting XI:

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Reguilon, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Moura, Alli, Bergwijn, Son.

Manchester City: Ederson, Mendy, Dias, Ake, Cancelo, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Grealish, Mahrez, Torres, Sterling.