Riyad Mahrez's first strike seals Manchester City's victory over Tottenham at Wembley

A result that implies normal service, while Manchester City claims superiority over the Premier League with another six-point win to remain at the top of the rankings, but among the most abnormal situations.

This was not a city at its best. , and it was far from Tottenham Hotspur at its best, with the difficulty of not connecting to a somewhat wacky environment. This 1-0 win by Pep Guardiola's team took place on a field ravaged by a series of NFL matches. The faded logo and inscriptions of the American competition were still visible on the remaining grbad. was supposed to be played on Sunday but at the new White Hart Lane.

The fair conclusion is that she also played a role in a strangely low crowd of only 56,854 people, some Spurs fans speaking of protesting moderately against the situation. All this has led to one of the strangest big-six games for some time – and perhaps even to a late defeat that has cost the Spurs so much – this audience itself often giving only 2,000 spectators among the echoes of this gigantic stage. 19659140] The only moment of purity and conviction in which everything was lived was the winner of Riyad Mahrez's match and the celebration that followed. Having finished so finely, he made a gesture to the sky in commemoration of the tragic death of Vishai Srivaddhanaprabha, his protector of Leicester City, champion of the title.

He broke away from this night and settled in the night. The rise of this goal, however, reflected the jagged nature of the game.

Granted, City might have gotten the kind of five-on-five cut that they did their specialty, but that's not really what they did. There was not a lot of work. While there was another brilliant Ederson ball that really can not be described as a punt, but City still had a little respite because Kieran Trippier did not succeed to direct it. Sterling has no more than to clear his way and easily hand the ball to Mahrez, obviously moved.

That should have set the tone of the game given what City looks like normally when it goes, and that can really take advantage. it was just another quirk. There was no reason.

There were only offensive and quality breaks in the game. Mahrez later hit the post and Kane managed a shot that looked like a long shot, but the match was still characterized by a strange lack of quality on the part of the teams. half but his touch let him down (Getty)

Mahrez was working far too long on the ball while he could have released Sterling. Toby Alderweireld was heading too easily into Ederson's arms. In addition, the chaos was generally too chaotic in the back without the precision of the attacks to punish him. It was summed up when Kane was scored on goal with City caught up well, and then took a terrible first touch.

And that was the bigger problem. It was particularly difficult to separate such moments from the state of the terrain and the strangeness of the circumstances.

It was evidently the inadequacy of Spurs training at play, given the vulnerability of Trippier and Ben Davies. Pochettino would surely have left with a three-man back line if Jan Vertonghen had been in form. His team was too often overwhelmed, but City was not for once overwhelming.

Aguero was offered two good chances to score in the second half, and then hit an out-of-form Hugo Lloris.

Pochettino was to be angry that City then replaces the Argentine by a Kevin De Bruyne, thus forcing the Spurs boss to bring to Dele Alli one of his recently wounded stars

Still, the scare factor at De Bruyne, the mind, ended up being at the center of a moment that summed up the game. The Belgian – of all the players – has the ball in hand in his own box, but Erik Lamela then opened the ball with a strange effort.

It was always better than his next effort. With Dele naturally in the center of what was ultimately a Spurs wave, the submarine fed Lamela just in front of goal … Just to see Lamela deliver an even worse effort as he found the stands rather than the nets.

showed that the ball was coming off the wrong court and might have led Lamela to hit him with the ankle rather than the foot

. The Spurs should not have played this game here, on a lot like this, and just pay another price for it.

That's why City paid Mahrez. They were not at their best, but they still explained why there might be real ground between them and the others by the end of the season.

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