1. Manchester City are (still) the best team in the league

This is a Tottenham Hotspur fan blog, but Manchester City wholly deserve the first point in this post. They played absolutely lights-out today, and it required divine intervention for Spurs to walk away with a point. With Kevin De Bruyne back at full health, City will be even more lethal in attack than last season. Bear in mind, they were the best attacking team in football last season. De Bruyne set up both City goals with superb crosses and could have scored one himself. Not only that, they’ve finally found a replacement for Fernandinho in Rodri, their new signing from Atlético Madrid. This was only his second competitive game for City, but he was committing fouls without getting whistled like a seasoned veteran.

2. Three in midfield isn’t working - yet

The midfield three of Ndombele, Winks, and Sissoko didn’t quite click today. It was the exact same story as last weekend – the team shape was much improved once Moura came on for Winks and Spurs shifted to a midfield two of Ndombele and Sissoko. Some improvement will naturally come with time, as players gel and figure out their individual roles in the system. But as things stand, the formation isn’t getting the best out of our players. The midfield performance was less than the sum of its parts.

3. VAR is an absolute meme

There isn’t much to say about VAR that hasn’t already been said, but there is one thing that hasn’t been brought up: Why in the world was Oliver Skipp marking Aymeric Laporte on corners? Laporte is 6’ 3’’. Oliver Skipp is 5’ 8’’ and not physically imposing in the slightest. Naturally, Skipp got beat to the ball on the corner that lead to Jesus’s disallowed goal. VAR aside, Spurs should have done better at picking out their markers.

4. Kyle Walker-Peters did his job

The biggest question coming into the match for Spurs was at right back – Would KWP be able to hang at all against Raheem Sterling? For the most part, Walker-Peters was up to the task. He did fall asleep at the back post for Sterling’s headed goal, but the first touch cross from De Bruyne was whipped in with such pace and bend that you can’t hold that against him too much. Aside from that moment, Sterling was pretty much invisible. KWP was able to put in a few tackles and broke forward with the ball as well. In sum, a good-not-great performance, which is more than good enough for Spurs at right back.

5. Spurs still have some magic

Last season for Tottenham was filled with the spectacular – impossible victories, last minute goals, and multiple VAR decisions. After the disappointment in the Champions League final, where VAR finally turned on us, it seemed like the magic might have run out. Yet today, Spurs scored two goals from only two shots on target, and VAR miraculously came to the rescue again. Erik Lamela’s goal was brilliant, and Lucas Moura’s headed effort equally stunning. Both were individual moments of excellence that came against the run of play. It seems like there might be some magic left this season.