Ever since Manchester City gave up on signing Harry Kane, it had looked like a decision where only the reigning Premier League champions came out better off.
They have become relatively comfortable at the top of the league, easing through the Champions League with the minimum of fuss and scoring plenty of goals along the way.
Meanwhile, Kane and Tottenham have had an under-par campaign, with the England striker managing just five Premier League goals in 21 games, until Saturday.
City were made to face every single doubt they would have had about missing out on Kane as Spurs put a dent in their title aspirations with a 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite largely dominating the game, City looked like a team without a natural goalscorer, and without a focal point.
For all of their play around the Spurs box, they rarely looked like carving out a clear chance against a resilient backline.
Meanwhile, Kane was biding his time, before making a significant difference on the rare occasions his team had the ball.
His pass for Son Heung-min in the build-up to the fourth-minute opener was sublime. With his weaker foot he hit a first-time pass into the path of his partner in crime, who found Dejan Kulusevski to finish.
Kane was dropping deep and spraying passes, showing the sort of ability that drew Pep Guardiola to him in the first place. The 28-year-old is a world-class striker but has developed his game to be more involved in setting up attacks.
In all honesty, that would not be all that necessary at City such is their array of creative talent. Had Kane done the same in a sky blue shirt on this occasion, he would merely have been doing as others were, playing balls into the box for Spurs to tidy up.
However, in the second half, Kane went back to what he knows and became everything City were missing.
His run and calm first-time finish from Son's ball to restore Tottenham's lead was vintage Kane, and his movement to work an opening to nearly score again minutes later, only to be denied by an excellent Ederson save, was a hint of more to come.
It almost felt like a direct comment from him to put his first shot of the day in the back of the net after seeing City be so wasteful in front of goal.
Another deadly finish appeared to have made it 3-1, only for VAR to rule it out for offside, but Kane would be the man to have the final word after Riyad Mahrez's late penalty seemed to save City. With a deft header, Kane sensationally won the game for the team he seemingly hoped to swap for City last year.
Unusually lacklustre from City
After the departure of Sergio Aguero at the end of last season, the narrative seemed to be that City absolutely needed a top-class striker or else they'd struggle.
That has very much not been the case after missing out on Kane. They have still won 20 of 26 league games this season, and only Liverpool (64) have scored more goals than their 63.
They have also scored 23 goals in seven Champions League games, including five in the week against Sporting from just six shots on target.
Guardiola's men have divided up their scoring among their attackers this season, with Mahrez (18), Raheem Sterling (13), Bernardo Silva (10) and Phil Foden (nine) all contributing.
The kind of ruthlessness they showed in Lisbon was not on show here, though. Despite having the vast majority of possession (71.5 per cent) and 21 shots to Tottenham's six, they had fewer shots on target (four to five).
It is a rare occasion that we see City fall behind, as they did here, three times.
In the 53 games in which they have trailed at any point in the Premier League under Pep, they have been beaten on 30 occasions (W12 D11), and they have now lost 21 of 44 games in which they have conceded first in the league in that time.
It would be silly for City and Guardiola to panic after this game, but they have to be wary of this becoming a template to beat them.
Then again, most opposition teams won't have Kane playing for them.
Conte's new boys come to the fore
While Guardiola will be scratching his head as to how his team lost, Antonio Conte will probably still be running round his living room cheering into the small hours of the morning.
This was a proper Conte performance, staying organised and respecting the threat of the opponent, while showing guts in possession, even late in the game when they looked to be holding on.
The Italian stirred the pot this week with comments about the January transfer window, lamenting that Spurs let go of four players he viewed as "important" while signing only two new ones, who would be perhaps more for the future than the present.
No one told Kulusevski that it seemed as the Swedish winger flourished as part of the visiting attack, grabbing a goal and an assist.
He was also unlucky to be judged offside for Kane's chalked-off goal in the second half.
Rodrigo Bentancur, who, like Kulusevski, joined from Juventus in January, had a quieter game in midfield, but still managed to make three tackles (only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made more for Spurs – four) and regained possession five times.
Perhaps the manager's words were meant for both chairman Daniel Levy and for the players, with Kulusevski showing he can be one for now as well as the future.
This game was all about one man though: Kane.
He received deserved words of praise from two other great England strikers, with Gary Lineker tweeting to say: "Superb from Kane. Not just the goal but his overall display. Brilliant."
Alan Shearer was similarly effusive, also saying on Twitter: "A centre forward masterclass from Kane."
If Tottenham are to finish in the top four, they will need more performances like this from their talisman.
Should Kane return to his best on a regular basis, we could come full circle at the end of the campaign with City reigniting their interest in him.
Especially so, if it turns out that the day he came back to haunt them triggered a significant tide turn in the Premier League title race.
Paris Saint-Germain fell to just their second defeat of the Ligue 1 season as Mauricio Pochettino's side were beaten 3-1 by Nantes at Stade de la Beaujoire.
Goals from Randal Kolo Muani, Quentin Merlin and a Ludovic Blas penalty handed the home team an incredible 3-0 half-time lead, with goalkeeper Alban Lafont starring for the hosts.
Neymar pulled one back immediately after the restart before seeing a soft penalty effort saved on the hour and Nantes held on for the win, moving into fifth place in the French top-flight.
PSG remain well clear at the top of Ligue 1, but this was not how Pochettino will have envisaged following up their impressive 1-0 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.
Nantes took a shock lead just three minutes into the game with Kolo Muani rounding off an efficient break by flicking home just seconds after Juan Bernat had forced a good save from Lafont.
The Nantes stopper made an excellent save from Lionel Messi moments later, before Merlin fired a stunning left-footed strike into the top corner from the edge of the area on 15 minutes, his first goal of the season.
Lafont denied Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Idrissa Gueye in an inspired performance, before Dennis Appiah had a red card correctly overturned after a VAR check.
Another VAR intervention gave Nantes a penalty before half-time that Blas hammered home after Georginio Wijnaldum's clumsy handball.
Marco Asensio's second-half stunner helped send Real Madrid seven points clear at the top of LaLiga with a 3-0 win over Deportivo Alaves.
Madrid, having been shut out by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in midweek, struggled to break down Alaves for long periods at the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, it was Asensio who found a remarkable way through, breaking the deadlock in spectacular fashion in the 63rd minute with a curling effort into the top-left corner.
A late second from Vinicius Junior ensured earlier missed chances did not haunt Los Blancos, before Karim Benzema's stoppage-time penalty added gloss to a win that means the pressure is on Sevilla to trim the gap at the top back to four points when they visit Espanyol on Sunday.
Such was Madrid's lack of threat in the first half that a lofted effort from Federico Valverde that landed on top of the net following a throughball from Ferland Mendy represented their best chance of the opening period.
They improved after the interval, Fernando Pacheco forced to make a fine save to deny Vinicius after he was played in by Valverde, with Benzema's goal-bound follow-up cleared by a defender on the line.
Asensio, though, ensured there was nothing Alaves could do to prevent him from opening the scoring in style with a career-best seventh LaLiga goal this season.
Benzema trickled an effort against the post as Madrid sought to put the game to bed, but he atoned for that miss as his wonderful build-up play with Asensio allowed the France star to tee up Vinicius for a simple finish to make the points safe.
Reward for another instrumental showing from Benzema came when he calmly converted from 12 yards after Florian Lejeune had fouled Rodrygo in the area.
Ante Rebic came off the bench to salvage a 2-2 Serie A draw for leaders Milan at bottom side Salernitana on Saturday.
Junior Messias gave the Rossoneri an early lead at Stadio Arechi, but they were facing a shock defeat following second-half goals from Federico Bonazzoli and Milan Djuric.
The fit-again Rebic came to the rescue, equalising 13 minutes from time with his first goal since September.
This was a setback for Stefano Pioli's side in the title race, though, as they missed a chance to go four points clear of rivals Inter, who have two games in hand.
The Rossoneri were in front just five minutes in, when Messias finished with his left foot after the marauding Theo Hernandez charged forward and picked him out with a perfectly weighted pass.
Ismael Bennacer almost doubled Milan's lead with a venomous free-kick that forced a fine save from Luigi Sepe, but the leaders gifted Salernitana an equaliser in the 29th minute.
Mike Maignan was badly at fault, flapping at a cross that he had no need to come for and Bonazzoli punished him, volleying in with a spectacular scissor kick from six yards after Djuric rose above the goalkeeper with a towering header.
Rafael Leao came agonisingly close to restoring Milan's lead early in the second half with a rasping acrobatic strike that whistled past the right-hand post after Franck Kessie replaced Bennacer at the break.
Maignan looked to have handed Bonazzoli a second goal on a plate when he was robbed by the striker, whose goal-bound shot was headed behind by the alert Alessio Romagnoli.
The home side were in front with 18 minutes to go, though, as Djuric met Pasquale Mazzocchi's cross with a powerful downward header into the bottom-left corner.
Milan hit back to draw level soon after courtesy of a long-range drive from Croatia forward Rebic as both sides had to settle for a point.
Harry Kane hailed Tottenham's "special" performance after netting a last-gasp winner in their thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester City, before speaking in glowing terms about his partnership with fellow forward Son Heung-min.
After Dejan Kulusevski's opening goal was cancelled out by Ikay Gundogan's leveller, Kane re-established his side's advantage, which was again wiped out by Riyad Mahrez's 92nd-minute penalty.
But the drama didn't end there, and the England captain proved to be the match-winner with a 95th-minute header, the latest winning goal that Man City have conceded in the Premier League since Manchester United's Michael Owen downed them after 95 minutes and 27 seconds in September 2009.
Kane, who was linked strongly with a move to the Etihad last summer, was full of praise for his team-mates after keeping Spurs within touching distance of the top four.
"It was a crazy game", he told Sky Sports.
"We worked so hard for so long. To concede the penalty was so heartbreaking, but credit to the boys for creating another chance at the end, and thankfully I was able to put it away.
"That's what the Premier League is all about. It was a great one for the neutrals and our fans. We'll go home happy today.
"We had to find a way of getting our season back on track. To get the result we did was really, really special."
With Son the provider for the first of Kane's two goals, the duo have now combined directly for 36 Premier League goals, matching the record set by Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard as the competition's deadliest partnership of all-time, and Kane was keen to praise his strike partner after the win.
"We connect really well and have a great understanding off the pitch.
"I can't wait to watch it back in the video room tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Son has now been involved in 10 goals in 15 Premier League appearances against Man City, recording seven goals and three assists, and was keen to repay his captain's compliments.
"He's scored so many goals", Son said of Kane, speaking to Sky Sports.
"I was really sad at the start of the season when he didn't score goals and people were talking, but he was working hard for the team.
"He is an unbelievable player and an unbelievable guy. Working alongside him is a big honour."
Son also assisted Kulusevski's opener, and his tally of five Premier League assists makes him the London club's most creative presence this season.
Andrey Rublev will hope to gain revenge on Felix Auger Aliassime when they meet in the final of the Open 13 Provence.
Rublev lost in three sets to Auger Aliassime in the semi-finals in Rotterdam this month and they set up a reunion with victories in Marseille on Saturday.
A third successive win over a French opponent booked world number seven Rublev's place in the final as he saw off Benjamin Bonzi in three sets.
Bonzi, playing in his first Tour-level semi-final, threatened an upset, but Rublev raised his game in the final set to secure a 6-3 4-6 6-3 win.
"[Coming into] this week I was really motivated," Rublev said afterwards. "I was so excited to compete, to try to play at a good level, to win some matches and it's my first final of the season so I''m really happy and we will see what happens tomorrow [Sunday].
"It was super tough. Benjamin is playing really great this year, he beat great players this week and I'm happy to be in the final."
Auger Aliassime, fresh off winning his maiden ATP Tour crown in Rotterdam, progressed to another final with a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) defeat of Roman Safiullin.
The Canadian needed two hours and 27 minutes and a pair of tie-breaks to see off the world number 163 but can now look forward to a 10th career final.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta heaped praise on young England stars Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka after they fired the Gunners to a 2-1 win over Brentford.
Smith Rowe and Saka struck in the second half to down a resolute Bees team, with Smith Rowe taking his tally to nine Premier League goals this season, a tally bettered only by Raheem Sterling (10) among English players in the competition this term.
Saka, meanwhile, has now registered 11 Premier League goal involvements this campaign (seven goals and four assists), the most of any player under the age of 21 and a tally only bettered by Jarrod Bowen (16), Mason Mount (13), and Trent Alexander-Arnold (12) among English players.
Christian Norgaard grabbed a late consolation for Brentford.
Speaking in the aftermath, Arteta lauded his match-winning youngsters, and saluted a "convincing" Gunners performance.
"They are players that have been raised in our system, and I'm really pleased that we have these players to come and take responsibility," Arteta said.
"They managed to win the game for us, which is really impressive at that age. I think we played really well [before the first goal], and we created some great chances in the first half without scoring the goal.
"But in the second half we were really convincing, scored the goal, and then it was a matter of scoring the second to kill the game. It’s a shame that we conceded a goal, but overall, I think we should be happy with the result and the performance."
Harry Kane showed Manchester City what they missed out on with a sensational double as Tottenham stunned the Premier League leaders 3-2 in a frantic finale on Saturday.
England captain Kane was heavily linked with a move to City in the close season and sat out Spurs' season-opening win over Pep Guardiola's side before eventually staying put.
The Tottenham talisman played a role in Dejan Kulusevski opening his Spurs account this time, and then Kane put the visitors back in front after Ilkay Gundogan's equaliser.
Riyad Mahrez's stoppage-time penalty appeared to have salvaged a draw for City, but Kane headed home in the fifth added minute to leave the champions' advantage over Liverpool at the summit at six points, having played a game more.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-min have joined a pair of Chelsea greats at the top of the list of the deadliest goalscoring combinations in Premier League history.
Kane finished off a cross from Son to give Tottenham a 2-1 lead during the second half of Saturday's game at leaders Manchester City.
No two players have combined for more goals in the Premier League era, with Kane and Son matching Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, who set each other up for 36 goals.
The rest of the top five combinations includes Thierry Henry and Robert Pires (29), David Silva and Sergio Aguero (29) and Teddy Sheringham and Darren Anderton (27).
Kane's goal was his sixth in the Premier League during this campaign and came against the team that were keen to sign him in the close season.
It was his third goal in 12 league appearances against City. For Son, the assist was his fifth this season, more than any other Tottenham player in the English Premier League.
Kane followed up the goal that put Spurs in front for the second time in the game by firing in again in the 73rd minute, but this time his strike was disallowed for offside.
Jurgen Klopp says it is vital for Liverpool to keep Thiago Alcantara fit after he came off the bench to pull the strings in Liverpool's 3-1 Premier League win over Norwich City.
Milot Rashica's deflected strike gave the relegation-threatened Canaries a shock lead in the 48th minute at Anfield on Saturday, but the Reds stormed back to extend their winning run to eight games.
Sadio Mane equalised with an acrobatic volley and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool in front three minutes later with his 150th goal for the club.
Luis Díaz opened his Reds account nine minutes from time as they reduced Manchester City's lead at the top of the table to six points ahead of the champions' clash with Tottenham, also taking their tally of goals for the season to the 100 mark.
Klopp was without the injured Roberto Firmino and made seven changes to his team following the Champions League victory over Inter in midweek.
Thiago was brought on along with Divock Origi just before Mane equalised as Klopp altered Liverpool's shape and the Spain midfielder was outstanding in the middle of the park.
Klopp told Match of the Day: "Thiago with his passing, really fresh, really relaxed, full of confidence, that helped as well. He is a good player, we just have to make sure we can keep him fit.
"Diogo [Jota] was not available and we don't know how long it will take, Bobby Firmino has a muscle problem and is out for a while, so we have to keep the boys fit and create a spirit like the boys did today in the game."
Norwich gave a great account of themselves as they defended for their lives and posed a threat on the break.
Klopp praised the Canaries and was pleased with the way his side rallied to stretch their unbeaten run to 11 matches.
"It had its moments, the longer the game went on the more I could enjoy it, obviously. A week ago when we played at Burnley, they give you a proper fight and over the years you learn to deal with these situations, again today," the German said.
"Norwich have a very different style but played a proper game, defended deep, had their counter-attacks, made it really tricky for us.
"We had moments and then the game can look completely different, then a deflected ball can be pretty decisive, but these boys just don't give up, we could help from the bench, bringing really good players on and that was like three days ago the game changer.
"We played really good football and scored wonderful goals. The coaching team, we changed the system as well, go for 4-4-2 and that is necessary in a moment like this that you throw all the knowledge you have together - it gave them a proper challenge to deal with because all of a sudden we were a threat in all moments."
Sunday sees the final day of action at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and the last five medal events.
Great Britain's women will attempt to go one better than their male counterparts in the curling, the four-man bobsleigh concludes, while Norway will seek to add to their impressive medal haul in the final cross-country skiing event.
The rescheduled mixed-team parallel slalom should finally get under way, and the men's ice hockey final promises to be an intriguing one.
Here, Stats Perform takes a look at Sunday's events, before the evening's closing ceremony.
Alpine skiing
The mixed team parallel slalom is due to take place after being rescheduled from Saturday due to windy conditions.
The event is part of the Olympic programme for just the second time, with Switzerland defending their title and Norway the reigning world champions.
It sees skiers race one another, two at a time, on side-by-side and identical slalom courses, with the first to reach the finish line scoring for their team. Each team contains two men and two women, who race against rivals of the same gender, with 16 teams entered and the competition operating in a knockout mode, with quarter-final places on offer to the first-round winners.
Switzerland won the first iteration in Pyeongchang, while Austria took silver and Norway claimed bronze.
Bobsleigh
The final bobsleigh event sees the four-man sleds compete, with the first two heats having taken place on Saturday.
The leaderboard at the halfway stage looks as many expected it would, with the team led by German pilot Francesco Friedrich leading the way, just ahead of the team of compatriot Johannes Lochner.
Canada's foursome led by Justin Kripps sat third, but the threat of a Germany sweep - as happened in the two-man event - remained, with Christoph Hafer's team in fourth.
German sleds have won five of the last seven four-man events at the Winter Games dating back to 1994 in Lillehammer.
Cross-country skiing
The cross-country skiing events have been largely dominated by Norway and Russian Olympic Committee, with the two teams accounting for eight of 11 gold medals so far (four each).
The final event on Sunday will be the women's 30km mass start, with Norway's Therese Johaug one of the favourites after taking gold in the 10km classic and skiathlon.
Finland's Krista Parmakoski (silver) is the only medallist from 2018 to compete here, and she will be looking to add to the bronze she won in the 10km classic.
Curling
Though Great Britain won their first medal of Beijing 2022 on Saturday, their men's curling team will have been disappointed to only take silver after losing to Sweden in the gold medal match.
Eve Muirhead leads her team into the women's final on Sunday against Japan, and will be confident of doing so having beaten them 10-4 in the round-robin stages.
Ice hockey
The men's final sees reigning Olympic champions Russian Olympic Committee take on two-time silver medallists Finland.
This will be Finland's first gold medal match since Turin 2006, which was the last Olympic final not to feature either the United States or Canada. Both the US and Canada were heavily impacted by the NHL refusing to release players for Beijing 2022, but this final still promises to be a strong one.
Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea must improve after looking "drained and exhausted" in their 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, but praised his team's defensive solidity following Hakim Ziyech's late winner.
Ziyech's 89th-minute strike meant the Moroccan has scored in three successive league games for the first time since doing so in the Eredivisie with Ajax in September 2019, and kept the London club within seven points of second-placed Liverpool in the Premier League table.
Chelsea were far from their best throughout the contest, however, managing just nine attempts on goal in the match, while striker Romelu Lukaku had seven touches of the ball, the lowest figure since Opta's Premier League records began in 2003-04.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel conceded that Chelsea were not at their best at Selhurst Park, before hitting out at their congested fixture list.
"Every team will have games like this, especially between December, January and February, where the conditions can create adversity", said the former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain boss.
"If we had another draw, maybe we'd talk about this game longer, but when you win it you have the chance to move on and forget it.
"We won't wake up tomorrow wondering what we could do better.
"We look a bit drained and exhausted. Everyone is giving their very best, but we are struggling a little bit, so it's important to win and keep going."
Romelu Lukaku had one of the quietest games in Premier League history as Chelsea overcame Crystal Palace 1-0 on Saturday.
A last-gasp goal from Hakim Ziyech stole all three points for Chelsea, who looked to be heading for a disappointing draw at Selhurst Park following an ineffectual display from Lukaku.
The Belgium international had just seven touches across the entire match. That is the fewest in a single top-flight game for a player to feature for at least 90 minutes since Opta started collecting the data in 2003-04.
Lukaku only had two touches in the first half – one of which was from the kick-off – and completed just four of his six passes.
He did not register a single shot and was caught offside twice, with one of those leading to Ziyech having a goal disallowed by VAR.
Asked about Lukaku's lack of touches, head coach Thomas Tuchel said: "It says he was not involved and could not make a point. I'm not sure it says so much about us in general."
Lukaku scored in the semi-final and final of Chelsea's Club World Cup success last week but has found the back of the net just twice in his past 14 Premier League outings.
Belgium have long lived in the Winter Olympics shadows of their geographical neighbours, but Bart Swings ensured there was plenty to celebrate on Saturday.
France, Germany and Netherlands have historically, and recently, enjoyed plenty of podium success at the Games, but it has been in seriously short supply in the case of the Belgians.
In fact, until this weekend they had not held a Winter Olympics gold medal since Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet won the figure skating mixed pairs at the 1948 Games in St Moritz.
Swings took glory in speed skating's men's mass start event, an improvement on his silver medal from Pyeongchang four years ago as the 31-year-old backed up his top-ranked World Cup form of the past three seasons.
South Koreans Chung Jae Won and Lee Seung Hoon took silver and bronze, while last place went to Dutch great Sven Kramer, a nine-time Olympic medallist, who won four golds in his storied career and was making his final appearance at the Games.
Swings said after winning the 100th gold medal of Beijing 2022: "That silver medal in Pyeongchang was already incredible because I think it was about 20 years ago since we had won a medal.
"Now a gold medal following up on that silver is historical. It's unbelievable. I'm looking forward to getting home with my family and friends. I haven't seen them in a long time because of COVID-19. It's going to be amazing to see them and show them the gold medal."
Here, Stats Perform picks out some other standout numbers from Saturday's action in Beijing.
3 - Irene Schouten became just the second woman to win three gold medals in speed skating in a single Winter Olympics, as she won the women's mass start, adding that to her 3,000m and 5,000m victories. It meant she matched the three-gold feat of fellow Dutchwoman Yvonne van Gennip from the 1988 Calgary Games. Germany's Claudia Pechstein finished ninth in Saturday's race at the age of 49, signing off a 30-year Olympic career that saw her win five gold medals and nine medals in all.
4-3-2-1 - Niklas Edin is the poster boy for patience, finally getting his hands on gold with the Sweden men's curling team. The skip featured as the Swedes finished fourth in 2010, third in 2014, second in 2018, and the 5-4 win over Great Britain means Edin has finally led the team to first place. It makes him the first Olympian to go on a run of 4-3-2-1 finishes in the same event, and means Sweden are men's curling team champions for the first time.
7 - Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov struck gold in the cross-country mass start, which was shortened from 50km to 30km due to extreme weather conditions. It gave him a fifth medal and third gold of Beijing 2022, after previous triumphs in the skiathlon and men's relay. That also made him the seventh cross-country skier to win five medals in any single edition of the Olympics, and the first man. Bolshunov now has nine medals in his Olympic career, finishing on the podium every time he has competed.
20 - New Zealand's Nico Porteous is just 20 years and 88 days old, and this is his second Winter Olympics. He landed a bronze four years ago and became the youngest gold medallist in men's freeski halfpipe with a spectacular performance on Saturday, nailing his routine to deliver a third medal for his country at these Games. It is the first time New Zealand have won three medals in a Winter Olympics, with snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott having landed the first two.
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