Manchester: Tottenham staged a rousing fightback at Manchester City after uncharacteristic blunders by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on Saturday, recovering a 2-2 draw in an engrossing Premier League encounter.
Pep Guardiola, reeling from the heaviest defeat of his managerial career at Everton last weekend, was left infuriated with the referee for not awarding a penalty directly before Son Heung-min grabbed an equalizer for second-placed Tottenham.
City was then denied a late winner when Gabriel Jesus found the net after coming off the bench to make his debut but was adjudged to be offside.
City remained fifth and will be ruing the collapse after completely overwhelming the visitors with a high-tempo first-half performance.
"I am of course sad because the players do not deserve that but in the future this performance will make us stronger," Guardiola said. "We played really good but we missed a lot of chances and when that happens you cannot win.
"It was deja vu ... we create more, we concede a few, and the referees are always against (us)."
Tottenham did help City in the opening 10 minutes of the second half when Leroy Sane and Kevin De Bruyne were gifted goals by Lloris, who is typically the most consistently reliable player in the Tottenham team. Instead, he resembled error-prone City counterpart Claudio Bravo
Lloris raced off his line when De Bruyne ball sent a ball high over the Tottenham defense and went for a diving header to clear, rather than trying to make a save. The header went straight to Sane, who then had clear sight of goal to put City in front.
If that looked bad for Lloris, the next goal was even more mortifying for the captain. Lloris dived to gather Raheem Sterling's cross but he allowed the ball to slip through his fingers and De Bruyne was there to capitalize with a simple finish.
City's two-goal cushion only lasted until the 58th minute when Kyle Walker whipped in a cross from the right and Dele Alli headed in his 11th goal of the season - more than his entire haul last year.
Tottenham pulled level in the 77th when Harry Kane set up Son for the equalizer following a contentious decision at the other end by referee Andre Marriner.
Sterling was racing through on goal and defender Kyle Walker was struggling to catch the City winger. Walker knocked Sterling off balance as he tried to shoot with a push and Lloris had an easy save to make, while no penalty was awarded.
City's day was summed up by the sight of Guardiola, so strained in the buildup to the game, burying his head after Jesus was denied a winner.
Tottenham remains three points ahead of City and closed within six points of leader Chelsea, which hosts Hull on Sunday.
"It is always important to show character, good quality and personality," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said. "We showed great character at 2-0 down against Manchester City, which is always difficult, but we believed and we always try and it was the perfect thing as it is a massive point for us."
