Tottenham Hotspur 4 - 1 Manchester City: Harry Kane opens account as Tottenham hammer Man City

Posted Saturday, September 26, 2015 by PA

Harry Kane and Tottenham enjoyed an afternoon to remember against Manchester City, bringing a comprehensive end to their recent nightmarish run against the stuttering table toppers.

Manuel Pellegrini's side arrived in north London looking for a club-record sixth successive away league win and the continuance of their exceptional recent run against Spurs.

City have won the teams' last four meetings, scoring 16 goals in the process - a nasty streak Tottenham halted with an impressive 4-1 comeback victory in which Kane ended a 748-minute goal drought.

The fans' favourite's recent drop in form and confidence has been as stark as it has been well-documented, with the relief inside White Hart Lane palpable as he turned home from close range to help wrap up the three points.

Things had not started so well for Mauricio Pochettino's side as Kevin de Bruyne continued his impressive return to English football by slotting home the opener midway through the first half.

However, the game turned on a controversial leveller as Eric Dier netted on the stroke of half-time after a move started by the clearly offside Kyle Walker - a goal added to shortly after the break by Toby Alderweireld's header.

Kane's quick reactions after a Christian Eriksen free-kick came off the crossbar added to the feel-good factor, taken to new heights as Erik Lamela coolly turned home a fourth.

It was an impressive response to the Capital One Cup derby defeat to Arsenal, while this result left City licking their wounds as they suffered back-to-back Premier League losses.

Pellegrini's men had started well enough, with Sergio Aguero denied an 11th goal in eight matches against Spurs by Hugo Lloris' fine save.

However, the Frenchman's goal would soon be breached after his team-mates cheaply conceded possession. Toure led the City charge and played through De Bruyne to sweep home.

Like so many recent encounters between these sides, things almost soon got worse for Spurs and would have done had Lloris not impressively clawed away Raheem Sterling's low strike.

Spurs, though, weathered the storm that was brewing and Kane had a few efforts of differing quality before the hosts levelled on the stroke of half-time as Dier fizzed home from distance.

The defensive midfielder's bullet from the edge of the box punished City, who failed to clear following Son Heung-min's smothered shot - a goal the visitors were furious at as Walker was clearly offside before playing in the cross that started it.

That decision gave Spurs a much-need kick-start and they doubled their lead five minutes after the restart as Lamela's corner was glanced home impressively by summer signing Alderweireld.

The volume rose several more notches in the 61st minute as the club's golden boy finally netted.

The otherwise-anonymous Eriksen hit a fine free-kick off the crossbar and Kane mopped up, turning home from close range to the delight of fans, team-mates and staff alike.

Sterling tried to reduce the deficit with efforts either side of a stinging Jesus Navas drive, but Spurs were in the driving seat and extended their lead further towards the end.

The offside flag denied Son and then Kane was stopped, but the impressive Lamela showed wonderful skill and composure to round back-up goalkeeper Willy Caballero to slot home.