Back in late September, when Gelson Fernandes applied the coup de grâce in a six-goal rout of Portsmouth, Manchester City appeared to be on the brink of a sea change. Bankrolled by the formidable wealth of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and bolstered by the arrival of Brazil international Robinho for a British transfer record fee, City's ambition of landing a Champions League spot - initially the subject of much scepticism - was suddenly being viewed with renewed seriousness.
So far, though, the promised end has not materialised for Mark Hughes and his men. While Harry Redknapp, Hughes' managerial adversary that day, has scarcely put a foot wrong since - he has masterminded five victories and two draws in seven subsequent Premier League outings with Portsmouth and Tottenham - City have just a solitary win against Stoke in the credit column.
City's third successive league defeat, in a game that saw Fernandes and Richard Dunne dismissed after Robinho had given them an early lead, leaves Hughes with some hard questions to answer when he travels to Abu Dhabi this week for his first meeting with Sheikh Mansour.
For Redknapp, however, life could hardly be rosier. Darren Bent followed up his midweek hat-trick against Dinamo Zagreb with a two-goal salvo that lifted Spurs out of the bottom three for the first time since mid-September and, after their wretched start under Juande Ramos, Tottenham finally have their first away win of the season. The late dismissal of Benoit Assou-Ekotto notwithstanding, things are looking up at the Lane.
The afternoon had begun in promising fashion for City, Robinho opening the scoring against the run of play after Heurelho Gomes, the Tottenham goalkeeper, was unable to gather a Darius Vassell effort. The Brazil international gathered the loose ball and slotted home for his eighth goal of the season.
Fernandes' 26th-minute dismissal for early fouls on Luka Modric and David Bentley turned the game on its head, however. Within three minutes of the Swiss midfielder's departure, Tottenham were level, Bent capitalising ruthlessly on Dunne's failure to intercept a long ball from Modric.
The subsequent introduction of Dietmar Hamann failed to inhibit the growing influence of Modric, who should have done better when through on goal shortly after the interval. But the decisive moment came in the 65th minute, when Tom Huddlestone and Jermain Jenas combined to set up Bent, whose shot cannoned in off the post to continue Tottenham's remarkable resurgence.
City ended the game with nine men when Dunne was shown a straight red card seven minutes from time. The referee, Mike Deane, decreed that the Republic of Ireland defender had hauled back Bent as he closed in on goal. Deane found himself reaching for his pocket again six minutes later, Assou-Ekotto seeing red for a challenge on Pablo Zabaleta.
