Thomas Frank’s side wouldn’t have relished returning to Premier League action, bearing in mind they came into this holding the second-worst home record in the division at a fortress that had been breached far too often.
You could hear a pin drop inside the ground during the opening exchanges, and a subdued atmosphere was flattened even further when Rayan Cherki broke the deadlock in the 11th minute.
Bernardo Silva intercepted Yves Bissouma in midfield before picking out Erling Haaland, who played in the Frenchman to fire home a deflected right-footed finish past Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs showed little in the way of a response, and nearly conceded a second when Haaland’s attempted lob landed on the roof of the net after the Norwegian was picked out by Rodri’s long ball.
Cherki was in the mood to create further damage on this sluggish Spurs backline, bamboozling both Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin in the box, only to be denied by Vicario’s right hand.
However, Semenyo doubled City’s advantage with half-time approaching, following some more woeful Spurs defending, as Rodri intercepted Dragusin’s clearance and Silva played in the former Bournemouth man to slot home past Vicario.
The hosts desperately needed to show more fighting spirit after the break, and they almost halved the deficit when Gianluigi Donnarumma parried away Destiny Udogie’s effort shortly after the restart.
Frank’s men did manage to reduce the arrears, though, as Solanke held off Abdukodir Khusanov in the box before appearing to kick through Marc Guehi’s leg when shooting past Donnarumma.
Tottenham’s fans were encouraged by the side’s resurgence, and they found an equaliser in what will go down as one of the goals of the season.
Solanke latched onto Conor Gallagher’s cross with an outrageous scorpion kick finish to restore parity and complete a comeback that seemed scarcely possible after their dour first-half display.
Wilson Odobert could have fired Spurs in front moments later, but they were indebted to Donnarumma for another fine save.
The Italian was largely a spectator in the first half, but was called into action again to tip over Simons’ dipping deflected strike.
Frank’s side were firmly in the ascendancy, but Tijjani Reijnders almost headed City back in front when he missed the target from Silva’s cross.
The Dutchman had another chance to put City in front with a diving header, but the points were ultimately shared.
This morale-boosting result extends Tottenham’s unbeaten run to four games across all competitions, but their lowly position of 14th means there is still plenty of work needed to salvage a thoroughly disappointing domestic campaign to date.
Meanwhile, these two dropped points for City and Aston Villa’s defeat earlier in the day made it a day to remember for Arsenal without even kicking a ball.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur)
