No complaints from beaten Pep

PEP Guardiola had no complaints after he tasted defeat for the first time since taking over as Manchester City boss in the summer.

Tottenham were convincing winners at White Hart Lane yesterday as an Aleksandar Kolarov own goal and Dele Alli's crisp finish secured a 2-0 Premier League victory.

City were fortunate to escape a more emphatic scoreline as Erik Lamela missed a second-half penalty on an afternoon when Mauricio Pochettino's men were dominant all over the pitch.

The victory ends City's perfect start under Guardiola and moves Tottenham to within one point of their opponents at the top of the table.

City were harried as they attempted to play their passing game and they missed the incisiveness of the injured Kevin De Bruyne as the Spurs defence did a superb job of coping with Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.

BETTER

"They were better," Guardiola said.

"They were the better team, that can sometimes happen.

"We play against a team who have had the same trainer for the last two or three years and last season were fighting until the end to win the Premier League.

"They have players with talent, we know how aggressive they are home and away but especially at home.

"We lost a lot of balls in the positions that were so, so dangerous, they were one step in front of us today so we can just say congratulations to Tottenham, because when the opponent is better you just have to accept it and learn from that."

Asked if Spurs should be considered as title candidates, Guardiola said: "They were there last season. Why not?

"Same trainer, new players.

"In two or three years my team will be better so in that sense it is normal.

"Of course, here in the Premier League there are many teams who can achieve that and Tottenham is one of them."

"I feel very happy and very pleased, the performance was nearly perfect," Pochettino said.

"To play a great team like Manchester City you need to do a fantastic job and for that I'm very proud for the performance and the work that our players showed."

Pochettino stopped short of declaring the win his best since he took charge of the club in 2014, but the ex-Southampton manager was delighted with his team.

"I don't know," he replied when asked if the victory ranked as his best at Spurs.

"I think we have played some good games but it is true that in a collective manner we worked very hard and all the players were fantastic on the pitch.

EXCITING

"I think it was a really exciting game, both teams played in an exciting way and we share a similar philosophy.

"I enjoyed it a lot from the touchline and the fans enjoy it a lot.

"Both teams, the mentality was to go forward, play football and try and win the game."