City give Spurs the Blues - report

Tottenham 0 Manchester City 2

Kevin Keegan celebrated his team’s first away win of the year as Manchester City swept aside woeful Spurs with first-half goals from David Sommeil and Joey Barton.

It was City’s first victory over Spurs at White Hart Lane since the Premier League was formed, and the only question manager Keegan will be asking is how his team did not record their biggest win of the season, as both Nicolas Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips should have got added to the goals.

City stunned Spurs with a goal from Sommeil after only 132 seconds – after having missed two gilt-edged chances inside the first minute.

From the kick-off, the ball was punted towards the Spurs penalty area and Ledley King headed it straight to Anelka on the left edge of the box. He had time to control, but fired his shot just wide of the near post.

Before the first minute was up, Wright-Phillips pounced on a defensive mix-up between King and Anthony Gardner and had only goalkeeper Kasey Keller to beat.

But the youngster lacked the finishing instincts of his famous father, Ian Wright, as he chipped the ball well over the crossbar.

It looked like two good opportunities wasted, but French defender Sommeil showed his striking team-mates how it should be done after City won a corner on their right.

Skipper Ali Bernarbia – back in place of injured Eyal Berkovic – curled the ball into the six-yard box and Sommeil was unchallenged as he run forward and powered a header home.

City were in control and were denied a second goal only by Keller’s flying save in the 19th minute, after Anelka forced a corner on their left.

The ball was played short to Wright-Phillips, who cut inside and hit a fine shot which was heading for the far top corner, until the American goalkeeper tipped it over.

Spurs were struggling, and it was no surprise when City did grab a second goal after 20 minutes, courtesy of a good finish from promising 20-year-old Barton.

Anelka forced a block from Keller and Goran Bunjevcevic cleared the loose ball only as far as Barton, who swept it into the net despite the best efforts of a scrambling Keller to record his first goal on only his third appearance for the club.

Spurs were booed off at the break and needed to make changes.

Manager Glenn Hoddle made two – although he resisted the temptation to introduce striker Steffen Iversen, who was on the bench for the first time since the start of February following a back injury.

Instead, there was a debut for Japanese international midfielder Kazuyuki Toda, who had spent the previous six matches on the bench since signing from Shimizu S-Pulse in January.

He replaced the ineffective Bunjevcevic, while Chris Perry came on for Mauricio Taricco in a re-organised back three.

But Tottenham’s defence continued to struggle against Anelka and Fowler, and it was the out-of-favour England man who might have wrapped up the points after 64 minutes.

Anelka teed him up, but his angled shot lacked pace and Keller was able to dive low to his right to pounce on the ball.

Hoddle made his third and final substitution after 71 minutes, and it was a bit surprising that instead of striker Iversen it was Milenko Acimovic who replaced Gustavo Poyet.

Spurs had perhaps their best chance after 72 minutes when Robbie Keane was in on goal in the right hand channel, but there was no way past Peter Schmeichel as his shot was blocked by the legs of the big Danish goalkeeper, who this week announced he was playing his final season in the Premiership.

Wright-Phillips showed great agility after 75 minutes as he rose highest to meet Bernarbia’s right-wing corner and sent a looping header just over the bar.

The remainder of the game fizzled out and by the time the final whistle came the stadium was emptying fast, although those who remained again booed off the home team.

It proved a particularly Good Friday for City, who look set to qualify for next season’s UEFA Cup via the Fair Play League, whereas this defeat effectively ended any lingering hopes Spurs had of making the competition via the league.