Tottenham had threatened to win at a canter. With a two-goal lead after 25 minutes, there was almost disbelief in the home crowd, and not just because Timo Werner had scored the first goal.

Everyone knew the story wouldn’t end that way and so there was a fightback from Manchester City, Matheus Nunes equalizing before half-time and then a concerted attempt by Spurs to seal the deal. They created chances, many of them, some crystal clear, and yet they couldn’t take advantage of them.

When substitute Richarlison failed to finish from close range in the 83rd minute, it seemed obvious that City would have the opportunity to redeem themselves and salvage a performance that did not reach the level Pep Guardiola demanded.

They had done it, the ball falling to 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly after Guglielmo Vicario fluttered at a corner and his shot went into the goal, only to be cleared off the line by substitute Yves Bissouma.

The Spurs would do their job. This is a result that will energize their season and is one they deserve, no matter how much pressure they put on their fans. The city will look for silver elsewhere.

It was a night in which team sheets always came under scrutiny – perhaps disproportionately – especially after Guardiola’s comments following City’s win over Watford in the previous round. He said he would “play against the second team” in this match. The city “will certainly not waste any energy.” And yet they were strong; six changes, three of which were John Stones, Nathan Aké and Ilkay Gündogan. That said a lot.

Postecoglou was never going to start with his best XI, no matter how much a section of the Spurs fanbase wanted him to; the people who thought this game was more important than Sunday’s Premier League game against Aston Villa. Postecoglou doesn’t see it that way. He left out Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie at the start, as well as Yves Bissouma and James Maddison. Nevertheless, one can hardly speak of a weakened line-up.

Udogie came on within 13 minutes for Micky Van de Ven, who started at left-back. Van de Ven injured his hamstring while stretching to win a slide tackle on Savinho and left in obvious distress. Still, Spurs were one goal away from winning at this point and it was a lead that their committed and fast start deserved.

Brennan Johnson provided the spark with a lovely back-heel that sent Dejan Kulusevski down the right, City exposed, and the low cross to Werner at the far post always looked good. Could he carry it out? Absolutely. Werner arrived ahead of Rico Lewis and opened his body for the side-footed finish.

Guardiola had started with Phil Foden in the No.9 role, James McAtee working on him, and it was strange to see City so disjointed in the early stages, struggling to put their passes together. Gündogan missed Stones on the edge of the City penalty area and was lucky that Werner shot straight at Stefan Ortega.

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When Sarr made it 2-0 for Spurs midway through the first half, it was nosebleed territory. Kulusevski worked a short corner with Werner and Sarr launched his long throw well outside the near post. To Ortega’s surprise, the midfielder managed to get the ball back into the goal at the last moment.

At this point the Spurs stopped doing what they were doing before, falling behind and making mistakes. The city began to gain a foothold. They created chances, with Nunes almost catching Foden after he passed Archie Gray; After another Nunes ball, Foden shoots a volley.

When four minutes of injury time was signaled, there was a groan from the home crowd. Foden had just lifted a free kick wide of the goal after a Udogie mistake. It was like they knew what was coming. This happened when Savinho beat Udogie with a cross and Nunes was all alone at the far post to finish. Keep playing.

Postecoglou shook his head as Nunes celebrated. He knew what was coming. He also recognized the need for his team to exert more energy at the start of the second period, which they did. Spurs got behind City’s high end line a couple of times before the hour mark and still couldn’t find the back of the net.

The south stand had chanted in the first half: “Timo Werner scores whenever he wants.” They know it’s not true. Werner missed a one-on-one with Ortega and had another great chance. Johnson had extended Ortega and the goalkeeper also threw out a hand to deny Kulusevksi as he made a run to the inside right.

Spurs suffered another injury setback when Cristian Romero was forced off, while City were without Savinho, who was taken away on a stretcher after a nasty fall. In came 19-year-old Jacob Wright.

Spurs would lose Werner to a groin strain and had to deal with the knowledge that they should have been out of sight; One flash from City could ruin everything. Wright almost did it. He took the ball confidently on the edge of the penalty area and directed his shot just a few centimeters past the post.