Danny Murphy column: ‘Complacency and loss of control’ – Man City’s problem in the second half

City lost all momentum and control, and had it not been for Gianluigi Donnarumma’s brilliant save, they would likely have been defeated.

Normally, if you dominate the first half and the other team attacks you more after the break, you may face more pressure and concede more chances, but you will also have more space for separate attacks.

That didn’t happen for City against Tottenham, though, as Frank left Joao Palinha and Radu Dragosin in for two games against Semenyu and Haaland as he chased the game. Firstly because Tottenham were more active, but also because City’s attacking line was weak.

They didn’t keep enough balls, or didn’t give enough options at the back. I would expect much more from them in this scenario.

Overall, though, I can’t say it was City’s poor performance or Tottenham’s brilliance, but rather a combination of both.

Tottenham’s performance was much better but City dropped several levels. This inconsistency in performance from them, between the first and second half, was as extreme as I have seen from Guardiola in a long time.

City have now won just one of their last six league games and I think everyone is surprised by their results because they have a lot of quality and experience.

The truth about their performance is that they are not at the level they should be, with the players they have.

The reason I say that is not because of their previous title victories, but because in the first half I saw City playing like a team trying to catch up to Arsenal – a team on a mission to say ‘we’re after you’.

Part of their downfall in the second half was self-inflicted, as they lost the ball and did not win challenges or second balls. It was completely different from them, because we were used to seeing them manage games well.

They are not out of the title race yet, as the gap to them is just six points and Arsenal still have to go to the Etihad Stadium.

City are still able to continue the long winning streak that has taken them over the line before. But at the moment there seems to be a problem with the mentality of some of their players.

Some of them – but not all of them – seem to think that when they get to the games, they’re done. This is not how you win a title, and this is not the city we know.

Danny Murphy was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.