A victory to unite north London. Harry Kane's record 267th goal for Tottenham sank Manchester City and pushed Arsenal a step closer to the Premier League title.
But if the Arsenal aspect is a bitter pill for Spurs to swallow, then surely everything else about this day would have pepped up the recuperating Antonio Conte, absent after midweek gallbladder surgery.
As for Pep Guardiola, another big-match masterplan has to be called into question.
If every match at this stage of the season is a final, as managers are wont to suggest, then how is it justifiable to make Kevin De Bruyne, the Premier League's most creative player, a substitute?
The Belgian's benching was the pre-match bombshell from the City camp, and by the time he came on, just before the hour mark, City were not only trailing but they were ragged.
Erling Haaland was seeing nothing of the ball – he did not have a shot all game long, or even a touch in the Spurs penalty area – and City's possessional dominance was getting them nowhere.
Arsenal, beaten by Everton on Saturday, would have been fearing their lead at the summit being trimmed to two points, but the longer this game went on, the more Mikel Arteta would have been perked up.
So too Conte, who was said by captain Hugo Lloris to be at home in Turin. It was decided on Saturday that Conte should skip this game, and assistant Cristian Stellini saw Tottenham show battling qualities that have not always shone through this season.
So what of the De Bruyne gamble? Was it up there with Guardiola's 2021 Champions League final punt on starting without a natural holding midfielder, giddily capitalised on by Chelsea?
De Bruyne plays the sort of high-tariff passes and crosses that bring chances and goals, but they also often result in a turnover of possession. Guardiola would have looked at the likes of Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski, and decided City did not need that pair sprinting away on the counter-attack.
Before this game, De Bruyne had lost possession on over 200 more occasions this season than the four players Guardiola selected in Sunday's midfield. De Bruyne had lost possession 469 times, compared with Rodri's 258, Bernardo Silva's 248, Riyad Mahrez's 237 and Jack Grealish's 219.
On average per 90 minutes, De Bruyne had lost possession 19.91 times, and among Sunday's quartet the worst offender during the season had been Mahrez (13.36 per 90).
Nobody in City's ranks has come close to De Bruyne's 16 assists, however, with five from Rodri and Bernardo Silva the next most from a City midfielder.
So this was unmistakably a gamble, Guardiola trusting his midfield to be robust and fend off the risk of Tottenham bursts, but also sufficiently creative to unlock the home defence.
And when you pick a team to keep the ball, it helps if they avoid doing silly things on the edge of their own penalty area.
Rodri was back-tracking and almost off-balance in the 15th minute when he looked to play out through the centre of the pitch, spotting team-mate Rico Lewis but not the lurking Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Spurs' Danish midfielder stole in to snatch the pass intended for Lewis and burst a telling five yards forward before flicking the ball into Kane's path.
What followed was not the cleanest strike of Kane's career, but the bobbling shot beat Ederson and found the left corner. The late Jimmy Greaves, Spurs' record scorer for so long, didn't mind how they found the net, and nor does Kane. Elation spread across his face. It was just his second touch of the game.
City had 78.7 per cent of possession over those opening 15 minutes, but Spurs had the lead and Kane had his 200th goal in the Premier League.
Later, Kane would tell Sky it was "a moment I'll never forget", but he put it to the back of his mind for the rest of the game.
Riyad Mahrez rattled the Spurs crossbar just before half-time, and that was as close as City came.
Ben Davies flashed a header a foot over the City bar from a corner in the 57th minute, just as De Bruyne was stripping for action at pitchside.
Off went Mahrez. De Bruyne fired wide from a half-chance, and then Spurs went close to a second goal in the 66th minute, Son skipping away on the counter and Ivan Perisic's skidding cross from the left just too heavy for Kane to reach.
Haaland was bristling at the lack of service, this season's Premier League 25-goal leading scorer shaking his head in frustration, imploring team-mates to do better.
City were becoming desperate. Julian Alvarez tried his luck from 20 yards and flashed the ball just wide of the top-left corner, then Kane bundled his way through Kyle Walker at the other end and only had Ederson to beat, with the goalkeeper this time winning that duel.
Tottenham had won five of their previous seven Premier League games when leading at half-time this season, but the exception came only a fortnight ago and it came at City, when a 2-0 interval lead swung around to a 4-2 defeat.
This time Spurs were sturdy, and they are back to just one point behind fourth-placed Newcastle United now, albeit having played one more game than the Magpies.
In the end it hardly mattered that World Cup winner Cristian Romero was sent off in the 87th minute.
The Argentinian's clumsy challenge gave away a free-kick 25 yards from goal in a central spot: De Bruyne territory. Up stepped the Belgian, and his shot smacked into Kane in the wall, ricocheting into Hojbjerg, who went down as though hit by a sniper.
Hojbjerg was excellent, winning possession a team-high eight times across the piece, and Tottenham have now beaten City four times in a row at home in the Premier League, without conceding in any of those games.
Only twice before had City lost four in a row to a specific opponent without scoring – against Chelsea between 2006 and 2009, and Sunderland between 2010 and 2013 – so there's another touch of history.
This is a bogey ground for City and Guardiola, make no mistake. They have lost on all five of their visits without scoring, when you throw in the Champions League quarter-final loss four years ago.
Kane, the man they wanted 18 months ago, a player praised to the hilt by Guardiola before this game, a man with history in his sights, was the last man they needed to run into.
The last thing City should have done was sit down their main man for the first hour.
Robbie Deas ‘determined to kick on’ at Kilmarnock after signing from Inverness
Kilmarnock have made their first summer signing by bringing in centre-back Robbie Deas from Inverness.
The 23-year-old revealed on Saturday that the Scottish Cup final had been his final game for Caley Thistle and Deas has now signed a two-year contract with Killie.
The left-sided defender joined Inverness from Celtic in the summer of 2020 and made 113 appearances, bouncing back from a broken leg earlier in the season to help the club reach the cup final.
The former Scotland Under-21 international told Killie’s website: “I fully understand the size of this club and the demands that will be placed on me as a player, so I’m excited about taking this step in my career.
“It was inspiring to speak with the manager about his ambitions for the club and it became clear that Kilmarnock would be a perfect fit for me.
“I’m determined to kick on and do my best for the manager and supporters over the next two years.”
Killie announced on Saturday that Fraser Murray had agreed a two-year contract and Innes Cameron had signed a one-year deal after returning to fitness before the end of the campaign.
Alan Power, Blair Alston, Chris Stokes, Scott Robinson, Calum Waters, Lee Hodson and Dylan McGowan are all departing at the end of their deals while loan players Jordan Jones, Lewis Mayo, Luke Chambers, Zach Hemming, Ben Chrisene, Christian Doidge, Ryan Alebiosu and Jeriel Dorsett have all left.
The club remain in discussions with Ash Taylor, Liam Polworth, Brad Lyons, Jack Sanders, Sam Walker and Liam Donnelly.
Manager Derek McInnes said: “While discussions are ongoing with a number of players, I would like to take the opportunity to thank departing members of the squad for their effort and commitment.”
Ange Postecoglou agrees to leave Celtic for Tottenham – reports
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou appears to be moving towards a swift resolution of his future amid reports he has verbally agreed to become Tottenham’s new manager.
Postecoglou admitted on Saturday that his ability to enjoy Celtic’s treble success would soon be disrupted by some decision-making and that seems to have happened even quicker than he anticipated.
The 57-year-old dodged questions on his future before and after Saturday’s Scottish Cup final win over Inverness having emerged as the overwhelming frontrunner to take over at Spurs.
Neither club are commenting publicly but reports claim Postecoglou told Celtic principal shareholder Dermot Desmond on Saturday night that he intended to leave for London and he is now said to be closing in on signing a two-year Spurs deal with the option to extend.
When repeatedly pressed on his future after Celtic’s 3-1 Hampden win over Inverness on Saturday, the Greek-born Australian said: “I anticipate enjoying this moment for the next 24-48 hours, as long as I can, before someone drags me away and takes my attention away from enjoying something that’s been hard-earned.
“The reality is, there’s probably players in that dressing room who won’t be here next year. That’s the nature of football.
“But I want them to enjoy it, I am going to enjoy it, and that’s all I am going to focus on until someone grabs me by the collar and tells me that I have to answer certain questions.”
The former Australia head coach has won five domestic trophies out of a possible six after arriving from Yokohama F Marinos in Japan and was linked with numerous Premier League clubs throughout this season.
Postecoglou became a hero with the Celtic support, not just for resuming their success after a barren season, but also for implementing an attacking style of play and his connection with the fans.
But he looks set to swap Glasgow for another rebuild job as Spurs finally look to appoint a permanent successor to Antonio Conte, who departed on March 26.
Postecoglou is due to go on a family holiday on Tuesday and a deal could be finalised quickly.
Former Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers has emerged as an unlikely favourite to succeed Postecoglou, four years after leaving the club mid-season to take over at Leicester.
Assistant manager John Kennedy is also high up the list but reports claim Postecoglou hopes to take the former Celtic defender to Tottenham.
Kane, Mbappe and Osimhen – A look at Real Madrid’s possible striking targets
Real Madrid are in the market for a new centre-forward after announcing Karim Benzema’s departure.
The France international scored 354 goals in 648 appearances to become Real’s second all-time top scorer, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, during a 14-year stay in the Spanish capital.
Here, the PA news agency runs the rule over the main contenders to succeed Benzema at the Bernabeu.
Harry KaneEngland captain Kane would appear to be a natural fit for Real given his unceasing ability to score goals for Tottenham.
Kane, who has one year left on his Spurs contract, turns 30 next month, but that is unlikely to put Real off a striker who is the Premier League’s second highest goalscorer and will be strongly coveted by Manchester United and others this summer.
Real have tempted Gareth Bale and Luka Modric away from Tottenham in the past and might be hopeful of striking a deal, with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy unwilling to sell Kane to a Premier League rival in the past.
Kylian MbappeThe World Cup winner was seemingly on his way to Madrid last summer before choosing to stay at Paris St Germain and chase Champions League glory there.
Like Kane, Mbappe comes with a goals guarantee as he has scored more than 200 for PSG, but the Frenchman has more time on his side than the England forward as he does not celebrate his 25th birthday until December.
Mbappe is a thrilling spectacle in full flight and releasing him from his eye-watering PSG contract, which runs until June 2025, might take a world record transfer fee.
Victor OsimhenNapoli’s first Serie A title for 33 years was fuelled by the goals of Osimhen.
The 24-year-old Nigeria star scored 26 goals in 32 games, with the 6ft 1in striker’s game based around pace, power and athleticism.
Osimhen has two years remaining on his current Napoli deal and has also attracted interest from Manchester United, with Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag known to be a big admirer.
Kai HavertzOn the face of it, Germany international Havertz would appear to be a strange replacement for goal machine Benzema.
It would not be a like-for-like signing as the 23-year-old Havertz, in a false nine role, struggled to provide the goals Chelsea needed last season.
But his tactical intelligence could enable him to dovetail well with Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior and Real could get a reduction on the £76million Chelsea paid Bayer Leverkusen for Havertz in 2020.
Jonathan DavidCanada striker David has a growing reputation for club and country and seems ready to step on to a bigger stage after spells in Belgium and France.
The 23-year-old has scored over 50 Ligue 1 goals for Lille since joining from Gent in 2020, 24 of them coming this season.
David is known for his pace and versatility, as well his pressing ability out of possession, and can also operate as a second striker.
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