City spurred on to show how far they've come

PEP Guardiola only launched his ‘Happy Flowers’ rant after Manchester City overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Tottenham 4-2 in January.

- JOE BRAY

If they had lost or drawn, we may never have learned his true feelings.

It turned out to be the biggest three points of the season as the extraordinary attack on his own club from Guardiola proved to be a turning point on the way to winning the treble. Fast forward and there are similarities to City’s form going into the fixture against Tottenham this weekend as there was going into January’s Etihad showdown.

City are hardly playing badly, but they can play better. They are not top of the Premier League and there are some players out of form.

They have developed a slightly concerning habit of conceding avoidable goals – particularly from direct balls on the break.