Pep Guardiola stood on the sidelines with a petrified expression, while the enthusiastic Spurs fans loudly sent a message to their superstar willing to change.
"Are you watching, Harry Kane?" It echoed shortly before the end through the sold out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Because the more than 60,000 fans had every reason to be happy at the Premier League season opener, the numbers on the scoreboard were also a statement: Tottenham 1, Manchester City 0. For star team manager Guardiola it was the fourth away defeat at Spurs in a row - The Spanish tactical virtuoso has never experienced such a negative streak against a club in his career.
Guardiola was accordingly depressed after the game.
Striker Sergio Agüero, who has switched to FC Barcelona, is gone, "but we are the same people who won the Premier League last season," he said.
"We're good enough to create chances and score goals, so we'll do that again," said Guardiola emphatically.
The Citizens around national player Ilkay Gündogan, who suffered a shoulder injury, have not scored goals for a long time.
What will become of Harry Kane?
Most recently there was also a 0: 1 in the Community Shield against Leicester City, before that the bitter 0: 1 in the Champions League final against Chelsea.
“The reality is,” said Guardiola, “that we allow few chances, but still lost 1-0 and 1-0 in the last few games.
We knew we needed time. "
And maybe another reinforcement? Although the 118-million-man Jack Grealish made his debut on Sunday evening, the show was stolen from the former Bundesliga professional Heung-Min Son from Hamburg and Leverkusen with his goal in the 55th minute. On the offensive, City is still looking for an Agüero replacement, Guardiola has an eye on England's national team captain Kane. The 28-year-old is also said to have asked for clearance after more than nine (untitled) years, but his contract will only expire in three years.
A replacement could be correspondingly expensive. According to reports, the “Skyblues” would be willing to invest more than 150 million euros in the striker. What about Kane? The striker returned to training late and was out of the squad against Manchester City. "Harry trained in the morning, he's preparing. When he's ready, he'll join the team and help the team, ”said Spurs team manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
In any case, Kane is in the 25-man squad for the first leg on Thursday against Pacos Ferreira from Portugal, the last hurdle before jumping into the group stage of the Conference League. For Kane the question remains: Conference League and the next attempt at the Premier League title with Tottenham, or would you prefer the Champions League with Manchester City? At least for Spurs fans, the answer has been even clearer since Sunday evening.