MATCH REPORT AND PLAYER RATINGS - MANCHESTER CITY 3-3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Manchester City and Totttenham played out an exhilarating high scoring draw, which was unfortunately overshadowed by a controversial late decision by referee Simon Hooper.

In the dying moments of the game, the referee decided to reverse his decision to give City an advantage after Erling Haaland was felled by Emerson Royal on the halfway line, despite the 23 year old leaping back to his feet and setting Jack Grealish clean in on goal.

The Blues were rightly aggrieved by such a poorly judged decision, and have been charged by the FA for failing to control their players, as they surrounded Hooper to protest the decision. But the reality is, City should have had the game long sealed by that point.

Tottenham took the lead early on in typical fashion, as a rapid counter attack saw Son Heung-Min finish emphatically past Ederson inside the first 5 minutes of the game, in what was their first forary forward of the entire match.

But City drew level shortly after, as Julian Alvarez's wicked free kick from out wide deflected into the back of the net off Son's thigh, leaving the goalkeeper stranded.

City dominated the game from this point on, and came extremely close through Haaland and Jeremy Doku, with the former's chance in particular being one that he's usually expected to tuck away nine times out of ten.

But City's dominance paid off, as a well worked move involving Haaland, Alvarez and Doku saw Phil Foden finish low at the near post to put the Blues in front.

But a tactical change from Tottenham at half time, which saw the talented but raw Bryan Gil replaced by the more experienced and defensive minded Pierre-Emile Hojberg, saw Ange Postecoglou's side gain more control of the match.

They drew level thanks to an excellent finish from Giovanni Lo Celso, who bent it low into the bottom left corner with his left foot from the edge of the box, after City gave the ball away cheaply.

But after knocking on the door, City finally looked like they'd sealed the game, as Grealish pounced on Haaland's cut back for his first goal of the season, with the relief pouring out of the City players and those in the stands evident.

But there was still time for City to concede yet another late goal in a big game, as Dejan Kulusevski, who has an excellent record at the Etihad and was looking dangerous all evening, scored a late back post header to send the Spurs fans into delirium.

All three goals were avoidable in one way or another, and City should've scored more than they did, both with the missed chances and the late 1 vs 1 for Grealish that was halted by the referee's whistle.

As has been a common concern in recent games, City were lacking in control, with the quartet of Alvarez, Foden, Doku and Haaland being simply too direct and forward thinking for City to be able to control the game effectively.

And arguably the biggest concern is that Pep Guardiola's side will be missing arguably their two most key control players in Rodri and Grealish against high flying Aston Villa due to a one match suspension, which means City will have to revert to a more transitional approach that'll suit Villa.

But there is no reason for long term panic. City are not in crisis mode - the performances against Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs were all good enough to warrant a win, with just a few daft mistakes needing to be ironed out of those performances.

Guardiola and the players will know that they can go to Villa confident of getting a win, even without their two midfield talismen in Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne.

Here are the player ratings for the thrilling draw against Postecoglou's side:

Ederson - 6.5/10 - Solid distribution, but should've done better to prevent Son's goal in the first. Helpless to stop the second and third goals, and had very little else to do, with Spurs scoring their goals from an xG of approximately 0.5.

Walker - 6.5/10 - Kept Brennan Johnson quiet for the vast majority of the game. However, the Welsh winger was allowed to get to the byline too easily for Kulusevski's winner at the back post.

Akanji - 6.5/10 - Decent performance from the Swiss international, who showed his pace numerous times in getting back and dealing with long balls through to Son. However, he had the odd moment of shakiness which he'll look to shake off as City attempt to improve their defence.

Dias - 7.5/10 - Much, much better from Dias against Spurs. Our number 3 looked his usual composed self for the most part, and led the backline very well with his top notch leadership skills. It's unlucky and unfortunate that he was unable to block Lo Celso's shot, as he seemed well positioned to be able to do so.

Gvardiol - 6/10 - From an individual perspective, he performed well; he passed the ball well and did his 1 vs 1 defensive duties accordingly. However, Spurs's best player by a long way was Kulusevski, who was Gvardiol's opposite number, with the Croatian perhaps able to do more to stop the Swedish winger from performing the way he did.

Rodri - 8/10 - After an under par performance midweek against RB Leipzig, Rodri was back to more like his best against Tottenham. However, he was undeniably left exposed at times in the middle of the park - an issue that'll hopefully be addressed by the return of Stones to the team in upcoming matches.

Bernardo - 6.5/10 - Worked his socks off in a pressing trio with Alvarez and Haaland going forward. Added an extra sprinkle of Bernardo magic too with a few exquisite touches under tight pressure in the midfield.

Alvarez - 8/10 - This performance was much more like it for the World Cup winner, who looked dynamic and dangerous and chipped in with two assists to boot. However, it remains to be argued whether his involvement in the team alongside Haaland makes City too unbalanced to control the very biggest games, which has been provenin City's last three Premier League games.

Foden - 7.5/10 - Looked aggressive and tentative on the right wing, and he popped up in little pockets of space inside to provide an attacking threat. Took his goal very well, and was unfortunate to be substituted for the benefit of control.

Haaland - 6.5/10 - Link up play was slightly less secure than usual, and his first chance missed in particular was a howler. However, his cut back from the right hand side for Grealish's goal was magnificent, and he would've likely got another one, had the referee not pulled the game back.

Doku - 7/10 - City's most dangerous outlet in the first half; he looked dangerous upon receiving the ball and was unfortunate to see his ferocious effort cannon off the meeting of the post and the crossbar. Hopefully the injury that forced him off is minor, and won't see him spend a period on the sidelines.

Substitutes:

Grealish - 7/10 - I've seen Grealish play much better this season than in his performance against Tottenham. However, his goal showed he's learning more how to attack the penalty box, which'll do wonders for his goal output and subsequently confidence.

Lewis - 7.5/10 - Impressive cameo from the 18 year old, as he offered both energy and control to the midfield in Foden's place.

Ake - 6.5/10 - A surprise omision from the starting XI, Ake did a better job than Gvardiol in limiting the number of touches that Kulusevski had. However, he could've arguably have done better to prevent Kulusevski from getting as clean a header as he did to score his last gasp equaliser.

Kovacic - 6.5/10 - A quiet came for the Croatian, who had less than 10 minutes to make an impact. He had a few nice touches in the left half space, and carried the ball forward remarkably as always.