Son Heung-min proved there is life at Tottenham Hotspur without Harry Kane as his goal earned the north London club a surprise 1-0 win over champions Manchester City in an absorbing Premier League opener in London.
Son Heung-min Photo: PHOTOSPORT
All the talk beforehand was whether Tottenham's goalscoring talisman Kane, strongly linked with a big-money move to City, would be involved.
The England skipper was duly left out of the squad, having only just returned to training, but it was his usual strike partner Son who gave Tottenham's new manager Nuno Espirito Santo a perfect start to his reign in front of a capacity crowd.
Tottenham were a constant threat on the counter-attack against a City side boasting new 100 million pounds signing Jack Grealish and it was from one such raid from deep in the 55th minute that Son beat City keeper Ederson with a clinical finish.
City enjoyed the lion's share of possession but their best chance came early on when Riyad Mahrez sliced wide.
Pep Guardiola had the luxury of 347 million pounds worth of talent on the bench but even when Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus joined the fray late on City were unable to spark.
The final whistle was greeted with a huge roar by Tottenham's fans who chanted "Nuno Nuno" as their new Portuguese manager proved an instant hit.
City could have few complaints about the result and have now lost all four games they have played at Tottenham's new stadium without scoring a goal.
They are also only the third Premier League champions to lose their opening game of the following season.
Whether they do indeed take Kane, scorer of 221 goals in 336 games for Spurs, will become clearer in the next week or so, but on the evidence of today,Espirito Santo's side look capable of embarking on a new chapter with optimism.
Harry Kane Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Meanwhile West Ham United forward Michail Antonio missed a penalty before scoring with a thundering shot as the Londoners came from behind to outclass Newcastle United 4-2 at St James' Park.
Antonio collected Said Benrahma's neat pass and blasted the ball past Freddie Woodman to make it 4-2, shortly after the debutant goalkeeper palmed away the forward's poor spot kick only for Tomas Soucek to pounce on the rebound to put West Ham ahead.
Benrahma had earlier made it 2-2 with a header to put West Ham on course for a victory which seemed unlikely after they had conceded in the fifth minute to Callum Wilson.
The Newcastle striker came into the contest having netted eight goals in 10 top-flight matches against West Ham, and he did not take long to spark celebrations as he nodded in Allan Saint-Maximin's cross.
Boyhood Newcastle fan Jacob Murphy guided his header into the goal from Matt Ritchie's pinpoint cross to make it 2-1 after West Ham left back Aaron Cresswell had levelled the scores.
But Murphy went from hero to villain later in the game as he fouled Pablo Fornals to concede the penalty that led to West Ham's revival.
