Mancini's Men Give Five Star Performance.

“I'll never get beaten that heavily again.”

That was the closing statement from Harry Redknapp as he left his post-game press conference after being forced to watch his Tottenham side receive a 5-1 thumping from a visiting Manchester City.

“Today was disappointing,” said the Spurs boss. “But its how we go during the rest of the season.”

If his side can play the rest of the season in the same manner that they played the opening 25 minutes then a Champions League spot could still be a possibility.

Spurs were able to prise open the visitors defence early on. Rafael Van der Vaart forced City keeper Joe Hart into a pair of impressive saves, firstly firing on goal after turning away from Joleon Lescott in the City area and then whipping a free-kick from 25 yards towards Harts near post, the England keeper at full stretch to tip the ball away for a corner.

City too had managed to create their fair share of chances to keep Brad Friedel on his toes between the Tottenham posts. 

As City grew in confidence, Tottenham began to fade away. Van der Vaart and Lennon, who both started brightly, became ineffective while Bale, down the Spurs left flank, never really appeared in the game until his side went behind.

City on the other hand grew in confidence and creativity and it was no surprise to anyone when new signing Samir Nasri broke into the Tottenham box after a one-two with Sergio Aguero and picked out Dzeko who added the finishing touch to a fine City move.

The same two combined for City's second goal, this time Nasri's cross found Dzeko at the back post, the striker beating away Younes Kaboul, to head past Friedel four minutes before the break.

Dzeko had his hat-trick after the break, beating Michael Dawson to Yaya Toure's low cross and firing into an empty Spurs net for number three.

Aguero got his name on the score sheet after Nasri released him down the left, Dawson again failing to make the important challenge, allowing the Argentinean to fire his effort into the far corner of Freidel's net.

Tottenham did manage a conciliation goal but Kaboul's header from Van der Vaarts corner did little to lift the spirits of the home fans, or encourage more from his team mates, as he reduced Spurs deficit to three goals.

But it was Dzeko who added the exclamation mark to City's performance as he curled a first time strike from 18 yards into the far top corner in the final minutes of injury time.

“The pivotal moment is our second goal,” said City coach David Platt as he under took Mancini's post match duties.

“30 seconds earlier I thought the ball was going in the net from Peter Crouch and then we go up the other end and we score.”

The miss in question could have turned the game on its head. Had Crouch been able to direct his header just five inches to the left he surely would have pulled Spurs level just before the break. However Bale's volleyed cross went to waste as the England striker directed his free header just wide of Harts post. A minute later City had doubled their lead.

Platt was grinning with every question sent his way after the game, especially when given the opportunity to discuss his attacking foursome of Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero and David Silva.

“When he [Dzeko] came in through the door, just in training his movements were good. The way he manipulates the football, the way he gets into goal scoring positions. He scores with his head, scores with his left foot, scores dirty goals,” beamed Platt.

“Since he's come through the doors again this summer and pre-season he's been excellent.”

The City coach praised his foursome as a group and noted how well they were coming together already.

“ Aguero, Dzeko, they're two central strikers that appear in wide positions as well. David Silva just floats around in and around the box, and then we obviously knew the capability of Samir when he came in.

“They [Dzeko, Nasri, Aguero and Silva] move the ball around very very well. Nobody wants to keep hold of it too long. They'll shift it around and wait for the right moment to pass.”

While City return north for the international break Spurs will be keeping an eye, at least till Wednesday, on the transfer market for any last minute deals to try and add depth to an already injury hit squad.

“I think we'll get one or two in in the window.” was Redknapp's optimistic response, before adding “We're hoping to sign another player today,” leaving the whole room to guess just who will be coming to White Hart Lane in the next 72 hours.