Antonio Conte ignored Mikel Arteta and Arsenal mistake in Tottenham masterclass vs Man City

Not many managers can say they got the better of Pep Guardiola in recent times, but Antonio Conte now can.

Tottenham went into Saturday's Premier League clash against Manchester City with virtually nobody fancying the north Londoners to get anything at the Etihad Stadium, but they proved the footballing world wrong in dramatic fashion.

City, as we all know by now, are one of the best sides to watch in world football. What Guardiola has done at the Etihad is nothing short of miraculous, with everybody who wears the sky blue shirt buying into the manager's complex, but effective, methods.

Liverpool and Man City are on a different level to everyone else in the Premier League - and this season continues to emphasise that point.

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If any side in the division tries to go at the top two, they are set to be punished, with their defensive lines strong and their attacking players absolutely frightening. If Conte asked his players to play on the front foot in Manchester, City would have picked Spurs off with ease and the mood around Tottenham supporters right now would likely be very different indeed.

Conte set up his team perfectly at the Etihad. As he admitted after the game, he knew City would have the lion's share of possession and Spurs were more than happy for Guardiola's team to keep passing the ball around as they sat back.

The Tottenham boss said: "To win a game like this means we had a perfect performance. We were very good defensively.

"Before the game, during the press conference, I said we prepared for the game very well, we had a plan. For sure, when you play against Manchester City, you know the ball possession will be 70 per cent for them."

Tottenham would usually leave Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski half way between the halfway line and their own goal, with Conte hoping there would be opportunities for a counter-attack - and his decision was vindicated.

There were countless times in the game where the ball fell to Kane and he could display his passing ability to let the likes of Kulusevski and Son in behind.

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It can be tempting for managers to let their sides attack and play on the front foot against Man City, with supporters always keen to see attacking football on display, but Conte was not tempted.

Frank Lampard, though, when he was in charge of Chelsea in 2019, was tempted - and he paid the price, with the Blues being beaten 2-1 by Man City.

He said after the game: "We went toe-to-toe [with Man City]. The amount of time we got in their final third, we didn't have that little bit of quality. Games like that can be lost in the boxes."

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Similarly, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, despite not actually being at the game after testing positive for Covid-19, set up his side in an attacking manner against Man City and arguably deserved something from the match.

The Gunners went 1-0 up at the Emirates Stadium in the first-half, but City scored two second-half goals, including one in the 93rd minute, to seal all three points in north London.

Despite Arsenal playing well on the day, it is another managerial mistake that ultimately lost the Gunners the game. A pragmatic approach is the way to go versus Man City - and that was showcased by Conte on Saturday.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy wants attacking football from his manager, he has already alluded to that in the past when speaking about Nuno Espirito Santo being appointed back in the summer.

Levy said: "I’ve spoken already about the need to revert back to our core DNA of playing attacking, entertaining football and Fabio [Paratici] and I believe Nuno is the man."

What we saw from Tottenham on Saturday was far from Levy's vision, but the 'serial winner' side of Conte - something that has been spoken about many of times since he took over at Spurs - was on display for everyone to see as he got the better of another serial winner in Guardiola.