Spurs, according to ‘Arry, produced one of their best performances of the season in thrashing a sorry City side last night and, despite last week’s wobble at home to Wolves, sit just two points off the Champions League places.

Their visitors went into the match with just one league defeat all season, but left the Lane with a more damning spin on their recent performances; just one win now in their last ten matches for Mark Hughes’ boys is just not good enough. Here’s a few pointers to how the game played out:

Lennon the Tormentor

The Spurs boss readily admitted his side’s aim was to get their right winger on the ball as much as possible, as Aaron Lennon’s pace and trickery continually destroyed poor Sylvinho. As this chalkboard shows, he pushed far up the flank and played many of his passes deep inside the City half as the visitors failed to deal with his menace.

Such was the success of Redknapp’s tactic that only a Niko Krancjar double prevented Lennon picking up maximum FPL Bonus points.

Defoe Better With Crouch

With Robbie Keane beginning the previous home game against Wolves, Jermain Defoe was the focal point of the Spurs attack as the Irishman, not a traditional centre forward, has a tendency to drift out left and link up play. Defoe, therefore, was much more stationary in the Wolves game as he stayed up top while his strike partner moved around.

The return of Peter Crouch to the starting line-up last night afforded far better movement to Spurs front two, as this chalkboard shows. Defoe saw much more of the ball in a greater variety of positions against City in comparison to Wolves, as his movement and attacking threat increased resultantly.

A Tale of Two Left Wingers

In his Tottenham restoration job, Harry Redknapp’s decision to mainly purchase players previously known to him has proved a wise one. Defoe, Crouch and Krancjar were all star performers at Portsmouth and, bringing them to White Hart Lane, he knew what he was getting, not just in terms of skill, but perhaps most importantly, application.

Manchester City, on the other hand, may have some players with an abundance of technical ability, but not, necessarily, heart. Robinho, for example, can be breathtakingly brilliant when bothered, but last night his lethargic performance summed up the difference in the two teams.

As this passing chalkboard shows, Krancjar’s movement and variety of distribution were far superior to Robinho’s, as he buzzed about the pitch, spreading the play to his team-mates with great effect.

This chalkboard, illustrating both players’ attempts on goal, makes a mockery of the £2.5m Harry paid for the Croatian earlier in the season; Krancjar had six shots at goal, Robinho a mere one, as Spurs tore their big-spending visitors to pieces.

On the subject of transfers, it is more than ironic that, with all the money at his disposal, Mark Hughes is at the centre of what is arguably the transfer-of-the-season to date. Unfortunately for Sparky, it’s someone he sold, rather than one of his uber-expensive acquisitions, who has hit the headlines time and again.

As the months go by, how City must rue forcing Richard Dunne to leave against his will, as yet another inspired performance from the Irishman kept Aston Villa’s star rising on Tuesday night away to Sunderland. With Dunne’s replacement Joleon Lescott out for the next few weeks, it seems more and more like a decision that will continue to haunt them.