Ruben Dias adds to Man City chaos facing Hugo Viana and Pep Guardiola

Manchester City fell to a poor 2-0 home defeat against Tottenham to deflate their optimism from the opening weekend of the Premier League season

Ruben Dias had his hands full against Richarlison

Ruben Dias charged after the ball, determined to get there ahead of anyone else. He succeeded by some distance, and managed to turn the next play from a Tottenham corner into a Tottenham throw.

Except he hadn't, because the linesman signalled for a goal kick that had looked pretty obvious from the second it had pinged off Mohammed Kudus. Dias had wasted a run, and City looked as out of control of the football match since they had conceded the first goal.

Pep Guardiola said this week that his team need to know when to run if they are to become a 'pain in the ass' for opponents again, but City were the only team wincing on Saturday.

The manager has also called the Club World Cup defeat to Al Hilal a useful lesson for his new players as they acclimatised to his team. They clearly have a way to go, with Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders much less effective than they were at Wolves and James Trafford gifting Tottenham a second goal before half-time with a hospital pass for Nico Gonzalez in the box.

In their first home outing of the season though, it became apparent that the issues are not limited to the summer arrivals. Rayan Ait-Nouri was already off the pitch injured when the first Tottenham goal came down City's left side as Nathan Ake, Dias, and then Rico Lewis failed to stop Richarlison crossing for Brennan Johnson to knock it in.

At the other end, Omar Marmoush rushed into too many situations and Erling Haaland missed a number of clear chances with his head. A new-look City in the sense that it contained six players who have been signed in 2025, but the same old problems that plagued the team last season.

The Spurs curse is alive and well, with the visitors finding new heroes despite previous matchwinners Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Son Heung-min (plus Palace's Eberechi Eze) not on the pitch. Thomas Frank remains one of the best coaches in the league, testing City more than most.

"Manchester City, it's happening again," sang the gleeful Spurs fans at the end. But the alarm bells from this performance should ring as loud as the praise that came in after Wolves was heard; Guardiola believes his team will be more consistent this season but their only constant remains inconsistency.

That will remain to a degree for as long as the transfer window is open, with Ederson on the bench on Saturday and Ilkay Gundogan and Manu Akanji not in the squad. Saturday's performance added to the uncertainty for Guardiola and sporting director Hugo Viana though as they weigh up how to get the best out of the old and the new.

The summer signings can't be written off on one performance, but if Viana and Guardiola are going to have success this season there can't be too many more afternoons like this.

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