Tottenham will be sick of the sight of Manchester City right now, after the we-score-when-we-want unstoppable-at-the-moment side romped to another huge win over the North Londoners in the English Premier League on Wednesday night.
The crowd at White Hart Lane witnessed yet another sumptuous attacking master class, just not from their home team, as City, with a little help from the referee, ran riot to post a 5-1 victory and with it also move to the top of the table, past Arsenal.
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring in a first half dominated from start to finish by City, who thumped Spurs 6-0 earlier in the season, with Yaya Toure then making it 2-0 early in the second half from the penalty spot, following a contentious decision which saw Danny Rose receive his marching orders.
Edin Dzeko, who won City the penalty, made it 3-0 before Etienne Capoue pulled things back a little bit, only for Stevan Jovetic and Vincent Kompany to add the extremely sweet icing towards the end.
Only a brave man, or an Arsenal or Chelsea fan, will bet against City winning the title this season, even if manager Manuel Pellegrini tried to temper the expectations following another ridiculous performance.
"I think it's too soon to be the favourites -- there's a lot of matches to play," said Pellegrini, whose side are now a point clear of Arsenal, and three ahead of Chelsea. "If we continue to play the way we are, we will have chances to win but it's early.
"We played some fantastic football in the first-half -- we scored just one goal but we had three or four more clear chances to score.
"We also defended very well, which is what I want - to have both."
Pellegrini insisted the penalty decision and red card did not turn the tide City's way, with the away side dominating from start to finish, even if they were only a goal to the good at that particular stage.
"I don't think the penalty was the turning point," he told the club's official website. "I don't think we deserved just one goal from the first half - of course playing with one player less is more difficult for Spurs but I don't the game changed in that moment.
"We were the team that had all of the chances, all of the possession and scored five goals. We also missed many clear chances."
Spurs manager Tim Sherwood, who suffered his first league defeat after taking over from Andre Villas-Boas, agreed with Pellegrini - Tottenham were completely outplayed by an unplayable City on the night.
"I'm always totally honest and it was very difficult for us, even 11 against 11," Sherwood said. "They have top players and they come at you from all angles. You have to try to find a way to impose yourself on them but they are relentless. They just keep coming, time after time.
"We showed spirit, we got a goal back to make it 3-1 and kept looking to go forward. The crowd were magnificent, they really got behind us, but it wasn't to be and the two late goals were disappointing. It is difficult when they move the ball around and you are chasing it all night.
"We have three days to recover and we have to get this out of our minds quickly. I'm sure we can get a positive result at Hull. Our away record has been excellent."
