Man City 1 Tottenham 2
Tom Huddlestone scored his first Premiership goal as Tottenham survived a spirited second-half fightback to claim their first away league victory of the season by beating Manchester City 2-1.
Huddlestone crashed home a 25th-minute half-volley to add to Calum Davenport's early opener and make a mockery of City's proud unbeaten home record.
But Stuart Pearce's men struck back after their dismal opening spell and Joey Barton's 64th-minute strike at least gave them hope of retaining that proud run of form stretching over eight games.
And they were denied a penalty with five minutes left when Malbranque appeared to bring down Barton in the box, only for referee Rob Styles to wave play-on.
Spurs went close in the 13th minute, when Jermain Defoe's initial effort ricocheted into the path of Berbatov, whose follow-up from a tight angle was booted off the line by Sylvain Distin.
And they finally took a well-deserved lead in the 16th minute when Davenport rose highest to meet Huddlestone's free-kick into the box, and headed the ball home past Nicky Weaver.
Even at that early stage it was evident Barton would be the man to fashion an unlikely City revival, and he fired an audacious long-range effort just over the bar in the 19th minute.
The second goal arrived when Ghaly crossed from the left to find Huddlestone on the edge of the box, and the 19-year-old fired home his first Premiership goal in spectacular style.
City improved in the second half and got one back when Dickov created space down the left and hit a low cross for Barton to steal in at the far post and poke the home side back into the match.
But, although they did have their penalty shout, there was no way back for Stuart Pearce`s men.
Stuart Pearce insisted Manchester City supporters had every right to turn against his side during their dismal first-half performance in today's 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham.
One furious fan sought to scale the barrier behind the City dugout and confront Pearce after the visitors' second goal before he was led away down the touchline by police.
Calum Davenport and Tom Huddlestone swept the visitors into an early lead over abject City who restored some pride by mounting a second-half comeback through Joey Barton.
Pearce said: 'People pay good money to come here and I was frustrated as well. If I was in his position I would have come down and vented my frustration at the manager.
'The performance of the team dictated people's reaction and rightly so today. The team were very very poor for 45 minutes, but for the next 45 minutes I didn't hear anyone venting their frustration.'
Tottenham's first Barclays Premiership away win of the season also ended City's proud home unbeaten record at their City of Manchester Stadium.
And Pearce made no excuses for his side's poor start, admitting: 'In general right over the pitch we afforded them far too much respect. At half-time I was pleased it was only 2-0 the way things were going.
'In the second half we rolled our sleeves up when maybe it would have been easier to go under. And at the end of 90 minutes maybe we deserved to get something out of it.'
Pearce was further frustrated by referee Rob Styles' decision not to award City a penalty with five minutes remaining after Barton appeared to be brought down by Steed Malbranque in the box.
Pearce said: 'He (Malbranque) has got none of the ball and trod on his foot. The referee said he thought it was a penalty but the linesman didn't flag so he didn't give it.'
Tottenham boss Martin Jol insisted 19-year-old Huddlestone has got what it takes to succeed at the highest level after his match-winning performance bumped his side up to seventh place.
Huddlestone set up Davenport's 16th minute opener before crashing home his first ever Barclays Premiership goal with a fine half-volley from the edge of the box.
Jol said: 'Tom does not show lack of ambition because he wants to be the best all the time and that is a good characteristic. He is developing and growing.
'He is really experienced because he played over 100 games for Derby before he was 18. I told him before the start of the season he would play a lot of matches for us this season.'
The only sour note for Jol was in his side's inability to put the game out of sight by the break with Huddlestone again and Dimitar Berbatov both spurning good chances.
Jol added: 'The problem is if you make it 3-0 you think it will be all over but 2-0 is never enough and I think they showed that by scoring with more than half an hour still to go.
'We have played a lot more matches recently and they have not, so I knew in the first half we would have to score three goals. In the end it was enough but we made it difficult for ourselves.'
Huddlestone crashed home a 25th-minute half-volley to add to Calum Davenport's early opener and make a mockery of City's proud unbeaten home record.
But Stuart Pearce's men struck back after their dismal opening spell and Joey Barton's 64th-minute strike at least gave them hope of retaining that proud run of form stretching over eight games.
And they were denied a penalty with five minutes left when Malbranque appeared to bring down Barton in the box, only for referee Rob Styles to wave play-on.
Spurs went close in the 13th minute, when Jermain Defoe's initial effort ricocheted into the path of Berbatov, whose follow-up from a tight angle was booted off the line by Sylvain Distin.
And they finally took a well-deserved lead in the 16th minute when Davenport rose highest to meet Huddlestone's free-kick into the box, and headed the ball home past Nicky Weaver.
Even at that early stage it was evident Barton would be the man to fashion an unlikely City revival, and he fired an audacious long-range effort just over the bar in the 19th minute.
The second goal arrived when Ghaly crossed from the left to find Huddlestone on the edge of the box, and the 19-year-old fired home his first Premiership goal in spectacular style.
City improved in the second half and got one back when Dickov created space down the left and hit a low cross for Barton to steal in at the far post and poke the home side back into the match.
But, although they did have their penalty shout, there was no way back for Stuart Pearce`s men.
Stuart Pearce insisted Manchester City supporters had every right to turn against his side during their dismal first-half performance in today's 2-1 home defeat to Tottenham.
One furious fan sought to scale the barrier behind the City dugout and confront Pearce after the visitors' second goal before he was led away down the touchline by police.
Calum Davenport and Tom Huddlestone swept the visitors into an early lead over abject City who restored some pride by mounting a second-half comeback through Joey Barton.
Pearce said: 'People pay good money to come here and I was frustrated as well. If I was in his position I would have come down and vented my frustration at the manager.
'The performance of the team dictated people's reaction and rightly so today. The team were very very poor for 45 minutes, but for the next 45 minutes I didn't hear anyone venting their frustration.'
Tottenham's first Barclays Premiership away win of the season also ended City's proud home unbeaten record at their City of Manchester Stadium.
And Pearce made no excuses for his side's poor start, admitting: 'In general right over the pitch we afforded them far too much respect. At half-time I was pleased it was only 2-0 the way things were going.
'In the second half we rolled our sleeves up when maybe it would have been easier to go under. And at the end of 90 minutes maybe we deserved to get something out of it.'
Pearce was further frustrated by referee Rob Styles' decision not to award City a penalty with five minutes remaining after Barton appeared to be brought down by Steed Malbranque in the box.
Pearce said: 'He (Malbranque) has got none of the ball and trod on his foot. The referee said he thought it was a penalty but the linesman didn't flag so he didn't give it.'
Tottenham boss Martin Jol insisted 19-year-old Huddlestone has got what it takes to succeed at the highest level after his match-winning performance bumped his side up to seventh place.
Huddlestone set up Davenport's 16th minute opener before crashing home his first ever Barclays Premiership goal with a fine half-volley from the edge of the box.
Jol said: 'Tom does not show lack of ambition because he wants to be the best all the time and that is a good characteristic. He is developing and growing.
'He is really experienced because he played over 100 games for Derby before he was 18. I told him before the start of the season he would play a lot of matches for us this season.'
The only sour note for Jol was in his side's inability to put the game out of sight by the break with Huddlestone again and Dimitar Berbatov both spurning good chances.
Jol added: 'The problem is if you make it 3-0 you think it will be all over but 2-0 is never enough and I think they showed that by scoring with more than half an hour still to go.
'We have played a lot more matches recently and they have not, so I knew in the first half we would have to score three goals. In the end it was enough but we made it difficult for ourselves.'
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