Three stunning pieces of acrobatic and instinctive movement from David James, twice denying Robbie Keane and twice using the full extent of his 6ft, 4in to deflect near-certain goals against the bar and the post, indeed, made for a thrilling duel, each living on sheer intuition. And when Keane did have the ball in the net, he was unlucky to be ruled offside.
Perhaps because it was a lunchtime encounter, perhaps because there was an absence of tension about the occasion, the match seemed to flicker from high entertainment to low concentration. Micah Richards, an 18-year-old defender asked to play in midfield for City, could actually have scored twice, such was his ability to find space while Tottenham lacked basic defending, but he was unable to remain calm in the finish.
Spurs' supremacy came from the core of their midfield, from Michael Carrick and Jermaine Jenas, whose understanding of one another is very close to being as fine as any England might have in reserve to the Steven Gerrard-Frank Lampard leading duo. Their resistance yesterday came from Claudio Reyna and the effervescent Kiki Musampa. That Spurs eclipsed City in this department was ultimately down to the fact that they had better targets to aim for in attack.