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Tottenham Hotspur overcame the challenge of Manchester City in their Premier League fixture on Saturday, as they recorded a resounding 2-0 win over the three-time champions.
Son Heung-min scored his ninth goal of the campaign from the game's first shot, before substitute Giovani Lo Celso doubled their lead in the 65th minute, again, with his first sight of goal.
Tottenham Hotspur got off to the ideal start as Son was on the scoresheet within five minutes, thanks to a lovely looped pass by Tanguy Ndombele.
The South-Korean star timed his run to perfection and caught the City defenders napping. He rolled the ball through Ederson's legs, after the Brazilian goalkeeper moved off his line a second too early.
City dominated the proceedings from that point onwards and thought they had equalised through Aymeric Laporte in the 25th minute. However, it was ruled out on account of handball after a long VAR consultation.
Gabriel Jesus had put his arms out before making the pass to the French defender, and the decision did not go down well with the visiting players.
Interestingly, Tottenham Hotspur recorded no shots on target after scoring through their first attempt. Meanwhile, the visitors knocked at their door with shots 11, finding the target three times before the break.
Manchester City could not keep up their intensity after the break. They were yet again caught on the counter-attack by the hosts, as Lo Celso went on to beat Ederson from a similar position than Son.
Tottenham Hotspur continued to frustrate City with their no-nonsense defending and the visitors, even after 22 attempts, could not beat Hugo Lloris.
Here are the five talking points from the game, as Jose Mourinho recorded back-to-back wins in league fixtures against Pep Guardiola for the first time in 24 attempts.
#5 Son Heung-min can't stop scoring for Tottenham Hotspur
Tonight, it took only one shot and five minutes for Tottenham Hotspur's prolific forward Son Heung-min to make the net bulge against Manchester City.
Son has scored nine goals in the Premier League this season, which puts him right at the top of the scoring charts. Jamie Vardy and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, both on 8, are yet to play their fixtures this weekend.
It was Son's second goal in as many games against Pep Guardiola's men and it seriously seems like he will give Harry Kane a run for his money for the Golden Boot award this term.
#4 Jose Mourinho's parking the bus much more effectively
Dull, monotonous and predictable... that's how Jose Mourinho's infamous "Park The Bus" tactic has been described in the past.
Well, the kind of football Tottenham Hotspur have played this season has been anything but that. Mourinho's side have scored 20 goals in nine games this term, second best only to Chelsea, who have 22 in the league.
It seems the Portuguese manager has refined his modus operandi since taking over the reins at the North London club, and now focuses on drawing first blood. In their last 10 outings, Tottenham Hotspur have scored the first goal in eight of them, which has allowed them to take control early on.
Against City, Tottenham took the lead just five minutes after kick-off and were happy to sit back, defend and only attack on the counter after that. They defended well and put in some really well-timed tackles to halt City's ingress in the final third.
It seems Mourinho has learned how to parallel park the bus and as long as he's churning out results, no one will bat an eyelid.
#3 Giovani Lo Celso makes an instant impact
Giovani Lo Celso scored his first Premier League goal memorably. He found the back of the net with his first touch of the game and doubled Tottenham Hotspur's lead after being on the pitch for just 35 seconds.
He impressed for Argentina during the international break, where he made a similar impact as a substitute in their game against Paraguay. He picked up the assist for Nico Gonzalez's equalizer in that game and tonight had an even bigger impact.
Lo Celso replaced Ndombele, whose assist led to Son's goal but energy dipped gradually as the game progressed. Lo Celso's introduction proved to be a stroke of genius from Mourinho, who enjoyed the goal a little too much on the sidelines.
#2 Manchester City's worst start to a Premier League campaign since 2008
Manchester City's loss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was their third of the season, which kept them in the bottom half of the table for at least another week. Statistically, this has been City's worst start to a Premier League campaign since their takeover by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.
City's numbers have been disappointing this season. They have a negative goal difference, having scored 10 goals and conceding 11 times. Injuries to key players like Fernandinho, Aymeric Laporte and, most importantly, Sergio Aguero have been partly responsible for their mediocre campaign thus far.
Coincidentally, this has also been the worst start to a season for manager Pep Guardiola across all the clubs he's managed in his glittering career. He will have to roll up his sleeves to get City's season back on track.
#1 Tottenham Hotspur's discipline, grit and accuracy helps them secure a memorable win
Tottenham Hotspur put on a show and got the better of Manchester City in most aspects of the game on Saturday.
Spurs played the entire game as if they had drilled for hours and hours in preparation for everything that City could throw at them.
Their clinical display was even more impressive given that most of the players in Mourinho's squad just had a couple of days to prepare for the fixture, after returning from a long international break.
The hosts stuck to their formation religiously. They showed restraint going forward, did not commit themselves into challenges, the defenders made at least a dozen wonderfully timed tackles, and last but not the least, they were deadly on the counter.
Have they done enough to stake an early claim for the Premier League trophy this season? You be the judge.
