HAVING dominated a first half in which they might have scored several more than a single goal, Spurs seriously lost their way in the second. True, they scraped victory very near the end thanks to a penalty, thus extending their run of home victories to half a dozen, but Manchester City could be forgiven for feeling that on their second-half showing they well deserved a draw.

A couple of injuries might well have had something to do with the diminishing of Tottenham’s performance. At half-time, they lost their centre-back Jonathan Woodgate, so that Vedran Corluka had to move off the right flank into the middle, where he was hardly as dominant as Woodgate. And after 66 minutes, Jermaine Jenas, who had been busily effective in the first, gave way to Didier Zokora.

City’s substitutions were very different. We were left wondering why their manager Mark Hughes took an hour before replacing the ineffective Felipe Caicedo, an ineffective single spearhead, replacing him with a two-man attack in Valeri Bojinov and Benjani. This produced an equaliser and could very well have gone on to win the game. Bojinov, who had scored four minutes after coming on, fired in a fulminating drive from the right on 77 minutes that had Tottenham’s Brazilian keeper, Heurelho Gomes, diving full length to make a spectacular save. In the 90th minute, Benjani headed not far over the bar.

Tottenham in general, and the effervescent little Luka Modric in particular, began as though they would brush City aside and indeed they might have were it not for the resilient goalkeeping of Shay Given. Modric, throughout the first half and for most of the second, was a constant inspiration. Nominally deployed as outside-right in the absence of Aaron Lennon, he popped up with inexhaustible energy and skill right across the line. Near the end of stoppage time he picked his way past Nedum Onuoha and produced a cross that could well have brought Tottenham’s third goal.

On the left wing, Tottenham somewhat surprisingly and unprofitably stationed that outstanding striker Robbie Keane. He stayed there throughout the game, even when the Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko was taken off, never looked happy, and missed a clear chance in the first half.

The Russian was substituted almost immediately after an embarrassing left-footed miss when, after a fine run down the right and cross by right-back Alan Hutton, he could do no better than hook the ball wide of the near post.

Tottenham might have gone ahead when Jermain Defoe pounced on a loose ball with a snapshot that Given deflected round his left-hand post for a corner. Eleven minutes later, in a quick sharp move involving Jenas and Modric, Pavlyuchenko shot from Jenas’s pass but Given dived to push that one away as well. Five minutes later he saved a header from Ledley King.

Sooner or later, it seemed, City’s goal would have to fall and at last it did on 29 minutes, when Defoe raced on to Tom Huddlestone’s right-wing cross to flick the ball home with his heel. Six minutes later, another excellent ball, this time from the left by Huddlestone, gave Keane a clear chance but he couldn’t control the ball.

So to the second half, and a radical change in the balance of power. Even before they brought their two new strikers on — Martin Petrov also made way — City were looking better and more progressive. When they equalised on 65 minutes, it hardly came as a surprise. Stephen Ireland played the ball into the box, where Benjani challenged King and Corluka. The ball reached Bojinov, who did final execution. It was the first goal Spurs had conceded at home in seven league matches.

At that stage, City looked the likelier winners. Spurs had lost their grip on midfield and their goal, if not under siege, had looked increasingly vulnerable. Modric continued irrepressibly and after a burst down the right, shot narrowly wide. Two minutes later, the 86th, Spurs got their winner from the penalty spot. Defoe did exceptionally well to control a long high clearance on the right that looked to be going out of play. Exchanging passes with Zokora, he crossed and when Fraizer Campbell, who replaced Pavlyuchenko, challenged Micah Richards for the ball and came down, Mark Halsey gave a penalty, which Keane put away.

Needless to say, the managers disagreed about the decider. “We were disappointed with the decision, obviously,” lamented Hughes. “Obviously a poor decision, the ball coming very comfortably into Shay Given’s hands. There was never any suggestion that it was a clear-cut scoring opportunity.”

But for Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp, it was the opposite. He said: “You can’t just drag someone down. It looked to me from where I was sitting he was all over him.”

Star man: Luka Modric (Tottenham)

Yellow card: Man City: Zabaleta

Referee: M Halsey

Attendance: 36,000

TOTTENHAM: Gomes 7, Corluka 6, King 6, Woodgate 6 (Hutton h-t, 6), Assou-Ekotto; Modric 8, Jenas 7 (Zokora 67min), Huddlestone 7, Keane 6, Defoe 7, Pavlyuchenko 6 (Campbell 75min).

MAN CITY: Given 7, Richards 6, Dunne 7, Onuoha 6, Bridge 6, Elano 6 (Zabaleta 32min, 6), Kompany 6, De Jong 6, Ireland 7, Petrov 5 (Bojinov 61min), Caicedo 5 (Benjani 61min).