Manchester City's poor away form continued with a dismal performance in the 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Tottenham had taken the lead in controversial circumstances through Pascal Chimbonda who looked to have deflected the ball into the net with his arm in the 45th minute. Man City equalized through substitute Rolando Bianchi who headed home Martin Petrov's corner. However Jermaine Defoe proved his worth to the team with the winner seven minutes before the final whistle to give Spurs a much needed three points from the fixture.

Spurs dominated the chances in the first half as Darren Bent wasted two golden opportunities to put his side in the lead as he first saw City keeper Andreas Isaksson rush forward to deny a clear chance and then shot well wide of the target after being put into a great position by a brilliant flick on by Berbartov.

The hosts finally broke the deadlock in the final minute of the half when Berbatov's flick was deflected into the net by Chimbonda's arm and even though City players protested against the goal, the referee dismissed the appeals.

Sven Goran Eriksson replaced Kelvin Etuhu by Bianchi and the move paid instant dividends as the Italian striker headed Petrov's cross into Paul Robinson's near post to pull City level. However the visitors' hopes to getting the win received a setback in the 82nd minute when Stephen Ireland was sent off for a two footed tackle on Young-Pyo Lee.

The hosts made full use of their numerical superiority by grabbing the lead in the 83rd minute when Defoe was the first to reach Steed Malbranque's rebound to smash the ball into the net from close range. With City unable to come up with a suitable reply, Tottenham collected all three points that lifts the club to 13th in the league table.