MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City’s Premier League title challenge took a major blow on Saturday after being thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham.
The four-time defending champion conceded two goals in the opening 20 minutes at the Etihad Stadium and twice more after the break to extend its losing run to five games in all competitions.
It is five points behind league leader Liverpool, which plays last-place Southampton on Sunday.
City fell behind 2-0 to two goals from James Maddison in the 13th and 20th minutes. Pedro Porro added a third for Tottenham in the 52nd and substitute Brennan Johnson completed the rout in the third minute of added time.
Manager Pep Guardiola had never lost four successive matches in his trophy-laden coaching career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City. That record has now been extended to five.
This was City’s first game since announcing Guardiola would stay on for a further two years after extending his contract this week.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Robson, The Associated Press