Manchester City blew Tottenham Hotspur away in the second half, transforming the mood, performance and outcome at the Etihad on Thursday night as a lacklustre first period produced boos from the crowd.

A tale of two halves saw goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson threaten The Citizen's already-poor record against Spurs as a 2-0 deficit at the break dealt them a poisoned chalice to turn things around late on.

Led by Riyad Mahrez - without any personnel changes - City came out of halftime with newfound energy and intent to bring a barrage of attacks to their guests, leaving The Lilywhites shellshocked after four goals.

The victory for City ensures they stay five points from table-toppers Arsenal; the opposition they face in less than 10 days' time. Meanwhile, if Spurs lose to Fulham, they could drop as far as seventh by the end of the weekend. 

  • Story of the match

As both managers looked to bounce back from derby day defeats, changes were considerable on Thursday night. 

While Spurs welcomed Ivan Perisic, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies and Emerson Royal back to the fold - Pep Guardiola handed Julian Alvarez his first Premier League start, dropping Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva,  and Kevin de Bruyne to a star-spangled bench.

The clamour to start Haaland and Alvarez was finally given the green light from the Spaniard in a fixture that City have notably floundered in. While a lack of movement in the final third was highlighted as an area of improvement after the Man Utd loss, it was through that exciting tandem that the home side thrived early on. 

Haaland continued to evolve in the role that would see him play a more significant and balanced function in the teamplay by dropping deep to receive the ball - but instead of leaving his number nine position vacant, his World Cup-winning teammate would run the opposite direction. 

The interchangeable movement was an appreciated refinement from last time out, as Rico Lewis' early cross was inches too high for Haaland in the first attack. To a similar outcome, Gundogan's attempt to wedge the ball in the Norwegian's direction also had too much juice to break the deadlock in the first 10 minutes. 

Man City had the lion's share of chances in the first half, with Haaland fumbling a free shot in the box following a corner and screamer efforts from Lewis and Gundogan failing to turn movement into goals. 

As the half seemed to drift into the break with The Citizens growing into their system, to suggest Conte's men were soaking up the pressure without chances themselves would have been an injustice.

Harry Kane hit the side netting early into the night, and while Son's header after the 30-minute mark couldn't find the goal, City's frustration at their lack of outcomes from their attacks slowly swung the balance into Spurs' favour.

Whenever Conte's men did get the ball, they controlled possession with a nonchalance imperceptible on derby day. They were purposeful and positive in their build-up play, something that would bring a bolt from the blue at the end of the first half. 

Come the 35th minute, the impetus entirely shifted into the visitor's grip.

Suddenly, City were giving the ball away, and it was their guests that provided the confidence to inject anxiety into the Etihad. The fear of making it five games in six without a win against The Lilywhites was personified by Ederson in the 44th minute. 

His careless pass from the back towards Rodri created all sorts of pressure for his teammate. As the Spaniard tried to poke the ball out, it rolled straight to Kulusevski - who took a touch and placed his strike into the bottom left corner.

Years after his insight into Guardiola's teams conceding goals in flurries of short bursts, Jonathan Wilson's actuality came true once more on Thursday night.

Kane's cross-cum-shot at the end of the half could only be parried by Ederson. The ball popped up to Emerson as his header found the back of the net, giving  Spurs a 2-0 lead against the backdrop of halftime boos.

The goals came from nowhere just as City looked comfortable. Little did Conte know, a second-half ambush was waiting just around the corner.

Second half

Upon the second-half whistle - although Guardiola's stubbornness meant no substitutions welcomed De Bruyne or Foden - a rekindled verve left Spurs stunned just 10 minutes in.  

A tidal wave of attacks saw The Citizens force their way to a quickfire double. First, Lewis did all the hard work down the right before Mahrez's drop of a shoulder shimmied the ball past Perisic and into the box, where Alvarez struck home from eight yards.

Shortly after their opener, Guardiola's team replicated their opponent's first-half capers with a second. Rodri's shovel into the box found Mahrez again - who flicked it towards Haaland, and the Norwegian made no mistake in heading an equaliser beyond Lloris.

It didn't do much to knock the wind out of Conte's sails as Spurs ran up the other end and forced a deflected shot onto Ederson's crossbar following Perisic's golden opportunity. Moments later, Kane fired an uncharacteristically wild shot across the face of the goal.

But while a draw wasn't the worst result - soon enough, Spurs would find themselves trailing for the first time in the fixture with less than 30 minutes left. 

Riyad Mahrez was everywhere in the second period, and his powerful strike past a congestion of players and into Lloris' near-side epitomised such a statement. The Algerian bulldozed City into a lead that seemed impossible at the break, and his intent rubbed off onto his teammates.

Following what was a relatively easy comeback from those on the outside looking in, with it happening so quickly after a team talk, Guardiola flexed his options from the bench, bringing Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker into the action.

The decision to revert back to a more direct approach delivered rewards for Guardiola. Instead of trying to walk the ball into the back of the net - a tactic they suffused faith towards last season when they were without a recognised number nine - they realised their best chances came when they attacked at pace and with aggression.

But Spurs never let off the pressure, hoping to re-grasp control as the football match started to play out more like a basketball game in the late stages. Whereas Hojberg ran the length of the pitch for his cut-back to find nobody, Ederson nearly presented them another gift when Kane's whipped cross had to be dealt with twice. 

In the end, City proved too rampant to restrain, the defence stood firm while Mahrez bookended the night in the final minute of regular time to sap any remaining hope in Antonio Conte's keg.

Ederson's long punt forward was poorly controlled by Lenglet - with the space and time to analyse his whereabouts, the Algerian dinked the ball over Lloris for his second goal of the night, granting The Citizens three points.

The move that completed the fourth goal captured City's night in a nutshell. While nothing seemed on, and their capacity to run away with games appeared truant - with Spurs looking to capitalise - they quickly reminded everyone what they were capable of accomplishing. 

Blowing teams away, even when the end is in sight, is exactly what Guardiola can conjure. A first-half to forget needn't be remembered after a coruscating finish. The title race is on; it always will be when this City team is still in the frame. 

Wow. Four goal involvements! Does anything else need to be said? Mahrez was astonishing on Thursday night and his stats alone show it, let alone his key role in every second-half attack. 

An in-form Mahrez is a concerning sight for any team. After slaughtering Spurs, he should have earned himself a righteous spot as the first name on the team sheet against Wolves.