Manchester City 2 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Gabriel Jesus was denied a last-gasp winner by VAR as Tottenham snatched a remarkable 2-2 draw against champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The Brazilian looked to have claimed a deserved victory for City right at the death of an intriguing Premier League clash but his late strike was ruled out for a handball by Aymeric Laporte.
The scenes as the goal was chalked off were reminiscent of the dramatic ending to last season’s Champions League tie between the two sides at the same venue last season.
The ruling made the encounter extra frustrating for City, who had completely dominated proceedings and racked up 30 shots to the visitors’ three.
City manager Pep Guardiola had earlier appeared to take out his frustration on his star striker Sergio Agüero, having angry words as he substituted him after the hour, but the pair later appeared to make up.
City twice led after Kevin De Bruyne created goals for Raheem Sterling and Agüero in the first half with pinpoint crosses. However, they were cancelled out by Erik Lamela and, with his first touch as a substitute, Lucas Moura.
It was a point Spurs will be happy to take as, despite having Christian Eriksen back in their side, they were outplayed.
City enjoyed almost complete possession in the opening minutes and created their first opening when Kyle Walker sped into the box to tee up Sterling, whose effort was blocked by Kyle Walker-Peters.
City appealed for a penalty when Rodri went down in the box under a challenge from Lamela but referee Michael Oliver gave nothing and VAR did not intervene.
Yet it was not long before the opener came, with De Bruyne clipping a superb cross to the far post for Sterling to head in his fifth goal of the season in only his third game after 20 minutes.
Spurs had seen little of the ball up until this point but they caught City by surprise by hitting back with an immediate equaliser.
Record signing Tanguy Ndombele threaded through a ball for Lamela on the edge of the box and the Spaniard curled a low shot past an unsighted Ederson, whose positioning was also questionable.
The setback hardly knocked City out of their stride. They responded positively and were back ahead 10 minutes before the break as the outstanding De Bruyne whipped in a low ball from the right and Agüero flicked in from close range.
De Bruyne almost made it a hat-trick of assists with a similar cross soon after but Ilkay Gundogan’s shot flew wide.
City appeared to step it up after the break with De Bruyne shooting narrowly wide, Agüero firing over on the turn and Bernardo Silva testing Hugo Lloris.
Yet remarkably it was Spurs who struck next as Moura came off the bench, went up for a corner and looped a header past Ederson with his first touch after 56 minutes.
City went straight back to the other end with Rodri forcing a one-handed save from Lloris and Silva hitting the bar with an attempted lob.
Guardiola decided to remove Agüero after 66 minutes and shouted at him as he left the field. Assistant boss Mikel Arteta intervened to prevent more of a scene and the pair were later seen hugging.
Jesus replaced Agüero and headed wide as City pushed for a winner but the real drama came in injury time as the Brazilian struck but the goal was disallowed after a long review.
