Pep Guardiola made four baffling decisions in Tottenham defeat

Tottenham Hotspur V Manchester City in pictures

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Pep Guardiola will have to answer to four baffling mistakes after Manchester City failed to capitalise on Arsenal’s Premier League title slip-up on Sunday. Man City fell to a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, extending their woeful record at the club’s new home stadium.

Harry Kane took advantage of a woeful error from the visitors to notch his 267th Spurs goal, surpassing Jimmy Greaves as the north Londoners’ top goalscorer.

Express Sport identifies four questionable decisions Guardiola may regret after slumping to another defeat at the hands of Tottenham.

Why did he bench De Bruyne?

Before kick-off, Guardiola confirmed that dropping Kevin De Bruyne to the bench was a ‘tactical’ decision after he was also missing from the starting line-up in the 4-2 triumph over Spurs last month.

But City’s lack of creativity was clear in an uninspiring showing for the first hour on Sunday before they miraculously improved when the Belgian was introduced.

Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez were starved of service, especially the former, who looked frustrated after making a series of runs to no reaction from the visitors’ midfield.

Guardiola has once again been accused of over-thinking big games, which has cost him in the past during his seven-year tenure.

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Why did he substitute Mahrez?

Riyad Mahrez stole the show in the 4-2 win against Spurs in the return fixture, scoring twice and providing an assist as City fought back from 2-0 down in the second half.

He came closest to equalising for Guardiola’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, rattling the post on the brink of half-time.

So it was a surprise for supporters online and the Sky Sports commentary team when Mahrez was chosen to make way for De Bruyne on the hour mark.

Bernardo Silva took his place on the right while Jack Grealish remained on the left, but you could make a strong argument that Mahrez was more effective than both.

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Why did he instruct to play out the back?

City were the masters of their own downfall when they fell 2-0 behind to Spurs in the reverse fixture, cheaply giving the ball away around the box for Dejan Kulusevski’s opener.

It was a costly repeat on Sunday, with Rodri the culprit.

The Spaniard took too much time on the ball before being robbed by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and punished by Kane.

Guardiola has formed his relentless trophy-collecting era at Man City on an unmatchable ball-playing style. But he should’ve seen the danger signs and adapted.

Why did he offload Cancelo?

Tottenham found most of their joy in the first half down the right. Last season, Joao Cancelo would have had that flank on lock as arguably the Premier League’s best full-back.

As City slumped to defeat in north London, Cancelo was playing for Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga win at Wolfsburg.

The 28-year-old registered his second assist in as many games for the Bavarian giants since his shock move late in January.

Rico Lewis has enjoyed a bright start to life in the senior frame. But Guardiola allowed one of his best players to leave last month and has ultimately paid the price.

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