For Manchester City, this might have been viewed as an opportunity for catharsis. Tottenham have been the favourite punching bag of Manuel Pellegrini's men over the last two seasons - conceding 15 goals in three games while scoring just twice - and at times in the first half it seemed as though the visitors were in the mood to exorcise the frustrations of Chelsea's inevitable Premier League title coronation earlier on Sunday.
In the main, however, this entertainingly chaotic clash that ebbed and flowed only served to highlight why City have allowed themselves to be knocked off their domestic perch with little more than a whimper.
With Vincent Kompany injured, Eliaquim Mangala's poor positioning and decision-making drove Martin Demichelis to despair with frightening regularity, while no one in the City midfield appeared all that interested in defending until Sergio Aguero gave them something to protect with a brilliant finish on 29 minutes. The visitors created enough chances on the counter-attack to kill Tottenham off but their persistent and glaring vulnerabilities in defence produced a match that, on another day with another Harry Kane, they might well have lost.
This lack of cohesion and intensity has been a common theme for City and it will surely be the starting point of the lengthy and painful inquest the club will conduct this summer. Manuel Pellegrini afterwards insisted that he would be heavily involved in the process, though Txiki Begiristain and his superiors must still decide whether the Chilean is to be part of the solution.
As he reflected on the match in the White Hart Lane conference room, Pellegrini was again keen to stress his headline achievements at City - while firing a not-so-subtle shot at Jose Mourinho. "Chelsea this year did exactly what we did last year - they won the Premier League and League Cup," he told reporters. "We did exactly the same last year scoring more goals in another style... we scored 158 goals, 101 in the Premier League and that style is important to try to continue."
Yet overhaul is far more likely than continuity at the Etihad Stadium this summer. The Premier League's oldest squad needs a significant injection of young legs as well as far more elite quality to supplement the spectacular talents of Aguero and David Silva. Uefa's Financial Fair Play restrictions mean City must further trim their £205 million wage bill in order to make those additions and the high earners likeliest to depart - Yaya Toure, James Milner and Samir Nasri - will also need to be replaced. It is make or break time for Begiristain.
On the pitch, there is no reason why City cannot once again be Chelsea's leading challengers next season. They will retain a core that boasts a title-winning pedigree and the interchanges between Aguero and Silva at White Hart Lane on Sunday provided further proof that they can still count on two elite match-winners.
Manchester United will be watching their local rivals' rebuilding plans with interest. Louis van Gaal expects his developing side to mount a genuine title charge of their own next season and a promising performance without several key players at Stamford Bridge last month suggests they are capable of competing with the champions on equal terms, though lacklustre defeats to Everton and West Brom will rightly temper the optimism around Old Trafford.
Van Gaal is still trying to make sense of a hugely unbalanced squad with glaring weaknesses in several key areas. Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao are too similar at this stage of their careers: one-paced, faded poachers short on confidence and long on fitness issues. Record signing Angel Di Maria is still yet to find his place on or off the pitch in Manchester and an expensively-assembled midfield is still far too reliant on Michael Carrick for incision and purpose. United's inexperienced defence badly needs a leader like Mats Hummels and star man David De Gea may need replacing if no contract extension is agreed, Real Madrid come calling and Victor Valdes cannot re-discover his Barcelona form.
Of all potential challengers, Arsenal are building from the most promising base: A talented core coming into its prime and garnished with the elite talents of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. The sparkling Chilean will be truly frightening if he follows the trajectory of most foreign imports that embark on their second Premier League campaigns and the German can reasonably hope to be healthier, even if the Gunners' wider injury problems show no sign of abating.
But they remain tantalisingly short of championship quality in most areas, as Thierry Henry cuttingly observed on Sky Sports after watching his former club comfortably stifled by Chelsea. "They need a goalkeeper, they still need a centre-back, they still need a holding midfielder and, I’m afraid, they need a top, top-quality striker in order to win this league again," the Frenchman soberly insisted. Arsene Wenger will have to overcome his natural caution in the transfer market this summer if he is to make the improvements required.
All of the chasing pack face a tough task. Attritional they may be, but Chelsea are not 13 points clear by accident. Mourinho will look to strengthen what is already a winning hand in the coming weeks and months and one suspects he and his men will not relinquish their hold on the Premier League as limply as City have done in 2015.
In the main, however, this entertainingly chaotic clash that ebbed and flowed only served to highlight why City have allowed themselves to be knocked off their domestic perch with little more than a whimper.
With Vincent Kompany injured, Eliaquim Mangala's poor positioning and decision-making drove Martin Demichelis to despair with frightening regularity, while no one in the City midfield appeared all that interested in defending until Sergio Aguero gave them something to protect with a brilliant finish on 29 minutes. The visitors created enough chances on the counter-attack to kill Tottenham off but their persistent and glaring vulnerabilities in defence produced a match that, on another day with another Harry Kane, they might well have lost.
This lack of cohesion and intensity has been a common theme for City and it will surely be the starting point of the lengthy and painful inquest the club will conduct this summer. Manuel Pellegrini afterwards insisted that he would be heavily involved in the process, though Txiki Begiristain and his superiors must still decide whether the Chilean is to be part of the solution.
As he reflected on the match in the White Hart Lane conference room, Pellegrini was again keen to stress his headline achievements at City - while firing a not-so-subtle shot at Jose Mourinho. "Chelsea this year did exactly what we did last year - they won the Premier League and League Cup," he told reporters. "We did exactly the same last year scoring more goals in another style... we scored 158 goals, 101 in the Premier League and that style is important to try to continue."
Yet overhaul is far more likely than continuity at the Etihad Stadium this summer. The Premier League's oldest squad needs a significant injection of young legs as well as far more elite quality to supplement the spectacular talents of Aguero and David Silva. Uefa's Financial Fair Play restrictions mean City must further trim their £205 million wage bill in order to make those additions and the high earners likeliest to depart - Yaya Toure, James Milner and Samir Nasri - will also need to be replaced. It is make or break time for Begiristain.
On the pitch, there is no reason why City cannot once again be Chelsea's leading challengers next season. They will retain a core that boasts a title-winning pedigree and the interchanges between Aguero and Silva at White Hart Lane on Sunday provided further proof that they can still count on two elite match-winners.
Manchester United will be watching their local rivals' rebuilding plans with interest. Louis van Gaal expects his developing side to mount a genuine title charge of their own next season and a promising performance without several key players at Stamford Bridge last month suggests they are capable of competing with the champions on equal terms, though lacklustre defeats to Everton and West Brom will rightly temper the optimism around Old Trafford.
Van Gaal is still trying to make sense of a hugely unbalanced squad with glaring weaknesses in several key areas. Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao are too similar at this stage of their careers: one-paced, faded poachers short on confidence and long on fitness issues. Record signing Angel Di Maria is still yet to find his place on or off the pitch in Manchester and an expensively-assembled midfield is still far too reliant on Michael Carrick for incision and purpose. United's inexperienced defence badly needs a leader like Mats Hummels and star man David De Gea may need replacing if no contract extension is agreed, Real Madrid come calling and Victor Valdes cannot re-discover his Barcelona form.
Of all potential challengers, Arsenal are building from the most promising base: A talented core coming into its prime and garnished with the elite talents of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. The sparkling Chilean will be truly frightening if he follows the trajectory of most foreign imports that embark on their second Premier League campaigns and the German can reasonably hope to be healthier, even if the Gunners' wider injury problems show no sign of abating.
But they remain tantalisingly short of championship quality in most areas, as Thierry Henry cuttingly observed on Sky Sports after watching his former club comfortably stifled by Chelsea. "They need a goalkeeper, they still need a centre-back, they still need a holding midfielder and, I’m afraid, they need a top, top-quality striker in order to win this league again," the Frenchman soberly insisted. Arsene Wenger will have to overcome his natural caution in the transfer market this summer if he is to make the improvements required.
All of the chasing pack face a tough task. Attritional they may be, but Chelsea are not 13 points clear by accident. Mourinho will look to strengthen what is already a winning hand in the coming weeks and months and one suspects he and his men will not relinquish their hold on the Premier League as limply as City have done in 2015.
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