Jack Grealish’s summer of love with England is a distant memory as Tottenham beat Manchester City

With a couple of minutes to go at an increasingly lively Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Jack Grealish stretched out a tired leg and brought Lucas Moura to the ground.

Cue some pushing and shoving, a yellow card for Grealish and further proof for the 25-year-old that his summer of overwhelming love with England is already a distant memory.

Grealish, Manchester City’s £100million record signing, had seen this coming. Back in the hot and heady days of June, he had laughed while at Euro 2020 about how strange it was to feel the weight of the country behind him. ‘I am used to everybody giving me grief,’ he had said with a smile. 

Jack Grealish endured a frustrating Premier League debut for Manchester City on Sunday

City fell to a 1-0 defeat and Grealish was booked in the second-half for a tackle on Lucas Moura

City fell to a 1-0 defeat and Grealish was booked in the second-half for a tackle on Lucas Moura

So here he was. Playing no longer for his native Aston Villa but still on familiar ground all the same. Booed and jeered by Tottenham fans at almost every turn, he will not care about any of that.

Good players always worry opposing fans. He will have been as flattened as anybody in sky blue by the result, though.

It was supposed to be Tottenham in turmoil here. They were the ones trying desperately to hang on to their star forward, the ones with a sixth-choice manager in charge for the first time. 

Grealish couldn't make an impact on the game as City struggled to break Tottenham down

Grealish couldn’t make an impact on the game as City struggled to break Tottenham down

For City this was merely supposed to be the start of another season of excellence. But all that got tipped marvellously on its head.

By the end of an absorbing game, Grealish must have been wondering when he was going to get to play with all of City’s good players. Kevin De Bruyne began the day on the bench while Phil Foden was absent injured.

Tottenham’s manager Nuno Espirito Santo, meanwhile, walked down the tunnel at full-time grinning broadly and fist bumping with the home supporters.  

As he made his way back out for media interviews later, he offered the same to the team of Sky pundits standing on the touchline. For the home team, it was that kind of day.

Few tried harder for City than Grealish. Stationed on the left side of his team’s midfield three, he almost won a penalty with a typically sharp burst forwards in just the third minute.

As City dominated early play, he was integral. Then, as they faded later on, he sought positions right across the field in a bid to make something happen. But this was not his day, nor indeed City’s.

Pep Guardiola’s team looked short of match fitness and that didn’t help him. With players like De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, John Stones and the holding player Rodri on the bench after their efforts in the Euros, this was a scratch City team and over the course of the 94 minutes they looked a little like it. Tottenham, on the other hand, grew into the game and deservedly won it. Early on their attempt to draw their opponents on to them and then break looked as though it was a plan that needed work.

But over time, it did work. Their best two players were the Brazilian Moura and the Dutch international Steven Bergwijn. 

Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn impressed for Tottenham in their opening day victory

Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn impressed for Tottenham in their opening day victory

Moura, once of PSG, was particularly impressive, breaking hard through the middle on several occasions to feed Bergwijn and goalscorer Son Heung-min.

The 29-year-old has been with Spurs for three-and-a-half years but has frequently been the odd one out as first Mauricio Pochettino and then Jose Mourinho tried to squeeze him, Son and of course Harry Kane into two attacking positions.

If Kane stays at Tottenham beyond this transfer window, the shadows may once again beckon for Moura and that would be a shame. He was terrific here.

At their best, Nuno’s Wolves team played a little like this. They were not afraid to defend before springing upfield quickly, often switching play from one side of the field en route.

At times in the Midlands, the Portuguese coach was accused of defensive tendencies but that’s the problem with counter attacking. It only ever brings a coach any credit on the days it works.

Certainly, Tottenham will have harder afternoons. 

The result gave Nuno Espirito Santo's side the best possible start to his reign as manager

The result gave Nuno Espirito Santo’s side the best possible start to his reign as manager

The Kane issue will hang heavy over Nuno and his squad until it is resolved. If he doesn’t play when Spurs go to Nuno’s old club on Sunday then the manager will be asked why. And on and on it will go until a definitive point is reached.

For now, though, this was a day to be reminded that Tottenham do have alternative talent on the books. This fabulous stadium was bouncing by full-time and as the City bus prepared to leave somebody had started to play Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline over the concourse tannoy.

That was the theme of England’s summer of work, of course. For Grealish, the challenges have already taken on a different shape.