Barton ends Spurs' European ambitions

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Manchester City

The charge sheet against Tottenham Hotspur runs to some length after this encounter. The biggest indictment, however, was that they barely appeared to care. European qualification? Well, they showed a Gallic shrug of indifference to that.

It is an accusation that has been levelled at Manchester City of late, not least by their manager Kevin Keegan. Here they hardly needed to extend themselves in a first half in which they scored twice within 20 minutes.

With their quickest player, Simon Davies, being outpaced by a defender of Richard Dunne's bulk – as happened midway through that period – Spurs knew they were in trouble. They created just one clear chance, a half-hit shot by Robbie Keane that struck Peter Schmeichel's legs.

"I am very disappointed, particularly in the first half, the first minute. To go out and start that way was quite incredible," said the Spurs manager, Glenn Hoddle. Indeed, City went ahead after just 132 seconds. Amazingly, they could have scored twice before then, with Nicolas Anelka and Shaun Wright-Phillips guilty of rash misses. The goal came as David Sommeil was left unmarked to head home from a corner.

If that was not embarrassing enough for Tottenham, more was to follow. With their defenders lying far too deep, Anelka was easily picked out. As he bore down he scuffed his shot, as did Robbie Fowler and, in the confusion, the ball broke to the impressive Joey Barton to score from 20 yards. Two goals. The first time City, without an away win since December, had struck more than once in eight games and yet it could not have been easier.

Once ahead, they never looked in trouble. The youth and vigour of Wright-Phillips and Barton alongside the wiles of Ali Benarbia were too potent. Tottenham looked laboured. They looked slow. They looked old. "We didn't want to look like a team for whom the season has finished because I think that is a terrible thing to say," Keegan said. If only Hoddle could agree. Instead, he admitted the half-time boos were justified.

At the break the Japanese international Kazuyuki Toda was finally given his debut and asked to plug the gaps in midfield. A case of Toda in the hole? Not quite. Despite his shock of dyed red hair, he did little to mark himself out and raise the hopes of the Spurs fans.

How they need a hero, now that their star turns have aged and the love affair with Hoddle has turned. Teddy Sheringham contributed a couple of half-hearted, half-hit efforts while Keane misfired and Davies looked bewildered.

"There were too many individuals out there and not one of them played to their best," Hoddle said. Defeat means that Tottenham have now lost four of their last six games. An overhaul is required. "The lads are hurting," Hoddle said. Not half as much as the fans.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Keller 6; Carr 4, King 4, Gardner 3, Taricco 3 (Perry 5, h-t); Davies 4, Bunjevcevic 3 (Toda 5, h-t), Poyet 3 (Acimovic 4, 71), Anderton 3; Sheringham 4, Keane 4. Substitutes not used: Sullivan (gk), Iversen.

Manchester City (4-4-2): Schmeichel 5; Dunne 5, Distin 6, Sommeil 7, Jensen 5; Foé 5, Benarbia 7, Barton 7, Wright-Phillips 8; Fowler 5 (Macken, 80), Anelka 6. Substitutes not used: Nash (gk), Sun Jihai, Horlock, Goater.

Referee: M Riley (Leeds) 4.