Indyplus updates: Sunday's Premier League

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Manchester City v Tottenham 13.30 pm

Cardiff City v Manchester United 16.00 pm

West Brom v Aston Villa 20.00 pm

The first five seconds or so of Tottenham’s performance this afternoon were perfectly acceptable, but unfortunately for Andre Villas-Boas, it just went rapidly downhill from there.

There followed a duff clearance from Hugo Lloris from Younes Kaboul’s back-pass and within a matter of seconds Jesus Navas had scored the first goal for Manchester City, setting the tone for the afternoon. For Andre Villas-Boas this result was clearly a humiliating experience and, as the agony wore on, he made little effort to communicate with his players.

City are phenomenal at home, with 18 goals in their last three games at the Etihad, but this was an afternoon in which all Spurs’ shortcomings were exposed. Villas-Boas even made good on his recent promise to bring on Emmanuel Adebayor for his first appearance of the season, a prospect he can never have considered when his club were embarking on that ambitious post-Gareth Bale rebuilding programme this summer.

Five goals up before the hour, City really might have had at least three more after that before Navas scored the sixth and Spurs went quietly to their fate. Moussa Dembele, a second half substitute, made a slight improvement but by then the damage was done. This City attack looks capable of slicing up any side in the league at home and to compete you really have to be at your best – a standard which Spurs fell well short of.

It did not help that their key player Sandro, who put the second City goal into his own net, looked well below par and at one point was sick on the pitch. It was unfortunate for him, but a succinct verdict on his team’s performance. Around him, Lewis Holtby lasted until half-time and Paulinho was well outplayed by his opposing countryman Fernandinho. In fact, wherever you looked on the pitch, Villas-Boas’ men lost their individual battles.

They have not scored in their last three league games and not won in the league since beating Hull on 27 October. It was hard to recall a chance carved out by an attacking three of Aaron Lennon, Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela. By the time substitute James Milner hit a long ball from right-back from which Navas ran on to score the sixth – after Jan Vertonghen’s error – one imagined that they were already revving the Spurs team coach outside.

Vertonghen’s mistake was symbolic of a Spurs defence finally giving way. Before this defeat they had conceded six goals in 11 league games; they doubled that total to finish the day with a goal difference of -3. Defeat to City was always a possibility, whatever the circumstances, but to concede within 14 seconds and never look in the running is unacceptable for a club with pretensions to finish in the top four.

For City, this was a strong return to form since that pre-international break defeat to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, and served only to make their away form all the more difficult to explain. Manuel Pellegrini made five changes from that side from two weeks ago and they were excellent, none more so than Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo.

The two of them are a joy to watch at times. The first goal had come when Aguero’s initial shot was saved and Navas chipped in the rebound from the right. Villas-Boas observed that “our gameplan finished after 15 seconds” and certainly that seemed to be the case.

It was Aguero’s shot that made the second goal, having been saved by Lloris it fell to Negredo whose nicely-improvised volley rattled in off Younes Kaboul and then Sandro. Possession had been conceded by another poor clearance from Lloris. That came in the 34th minute and when Aguero clipped in the third from Navas’ cross six minutes later the game was over.

“Difficult to explain” was Villas-Boas’ assessment of the game, although he later conceded that his team should be “ashamed”. It was Spurs’ heaviest defeat since then club lost 7-1 to Newcastle in December 1996, in the days when Clive Wilson and David Howells were in the team. But this is a different club in a different era and these kind of aberrations are supposed to be a thing of the past.

Spurs’ best chance was a shot by Paulinho that may not have been on target before it was kicked away by Martin Demichelis on the line. In desperation, Villas-Boas brought on Adebayor at half-time, ignoring Jermain Defoe, but there was precious little change. Negredo laid the ball off beautifully to Yaya Toure five minutes after half-time and he held off Kyle Walker to square the ball for Aguero’s second goal.

Goodness, it was easy for City in those ten minutes before the hour. Samir Nasri hit the bar with the outside of his right foot when attempting a cross. Then Negredo turned Michael Dawson inside out and struck a shot past Lloris for the fifth goal on 55 minutes. In the away end, the Spurs fans sang: “We’re Tottenham Hotspur, we’ll sing when we’re s***” and they were obliged to keep going for the next 30 minutes.

There were other chances for City: a Negredo header that went over the bar, another opportunity for Toure and a miss by Fernandinho. Dembele ran through the centre with ten minutes left and teed up Adebayor on 80 minutes but this was not Spurs’ day. Then came the final goal, a long ball from Milner that exposed Vertonghen – he has many qualities, but they were not obvious on this occasion – and Navas scored the sixth.

The conundrum for Pellegrini is how he takes this show on the road. City do not play away from home in the league until a week on Wednesday when they go to West Bromwich Albion. This victory takes them back up to fourth and within six points of the leaders, Arsenal. Spurs, a further four points back, in ninth are the ambitious club with all the problems now.

“Everything can change again, so we can get a lift from three points,” Villas-Boas said post-match. And in a league where these two clubs have lost eight between them already, that is undeniable. But it has to change quickly for Spurs, and unless their attack clicks soon, the damage to their ambitions this season will keep being done.

Other teams might have drifted out of this game, feeling that they were unfortunate with the referee, that they were just another victim of the Manchester United nous and Wayne Rooney’s acute sense of responsibility.

Cardiff City trailed for more than half of this match but at no point did they accept their fate. This is not that sort of football ground and Malky Mackay is not that sort of manager. Cardiff pushed and fought and ran and battled in the cold and dark yesterday afternoon and were finally rewarded in the first minute of stoppage time.

Peter Whittingham, whose brilliant delivery is one of Cardiff’s best attacking weapons, swung in a free-kick from the left wing. Kim Bo-Kyung, on as a late substitute, darted to the near post and headed past David De Gea.

Manchester City and Swansea City have already been beaten on rousing afternoons here this season and while this was not quite that, it was still a very good reward for another display of focus, commitment and effort at the Cardiff City Stadium.

For United, it was the second time in just over a month that they have had two league points snatched away by a late equaliser, just when they looked set to return to the top four for the first time since August.

This was not a remarkable United display but one that owed almost everything to the power of a reprieved Rooney. He scored United’s first, made their second and – but for a late slip – should have won the game in stoppage time. All this after he could have been sent off just eight minutes into the match.

Rooney might have just hid after that, like a naughty schoolboy lucky to be unpunished and trying to avoid mischief, but that is not in his character. With United’s reliable spine of Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick and Robin Van Persie all missing, the onus was on Rooney to do it all by himself and so that is what he tried to do. Had United held on it would have been a win due almost entirely to his commitment. It certainly would not have been because of the midfield partnership of Marouane Fellaini and Tom Cleverley.

Had United won, Mackay might not have been quite as relaxed about the decision afterwards as he was. A grievance would have been legitimate. He was fortunate that his afternoon lasted longer than eight minutes. Chasing a ball down the left wing, he tried to shrug off Jordon Mutch, failed to do so and, frustrated at losing the physical battle, took it out on Mutch’s back leg. It was not a silly foul rather than a bad one but was just the type of off-ball kick for which referees usually send players off.

Neil Swarbrick, presumably in deference to how early it was in the match, produced a yellow card.

No home crowd would have taken this particularly well and at Cardiff City they are more particular than most. And of all the players it could have been, it was Rooney, the one most likely to spark something out of nothing.

That is just what happened. Cardiff might have known, when Gary Medel had to scramble away Rooney’s backheel for Javier Hernandez, that he was in the mood to take advantage of his reprieve. Cardiff certainly should have known not to give away the ball so easily.

But after 15 minutes Ben Turner, otherwise impeccable at the heart of the Cardiff defence, rolled a sideways pass straight to Antonio Valencia on United’s right wing. He whipped a quick cross in to Hernandez, who flicked it on towards Rooney. Medel was close but Rooney spun away, paused and shot. The ball bounced off Medel, away from David Marshall and into the bottom corner.

As frustrated as Cardiff might have been with the referee, it was a bad defensive mistake, staining what was otherwise a performance of very impressive organisation, rigour and discipline. Much like in the defeats of Manchester City and Swansea City, this was purposeful focused football roared on by the partisan crowd.

Malky Mackay has this team perfectly drilled, their first-choice back four working in good combination, with the ferociously muscular compact Medel scurrying with intent in front of them, an inhospitable pit-bull defending his owner’s garden.

Cardiff were always committed to moving the ball forward quickly and they created enough chances to win the game. Peter Odemwingie, in from the left wing, missed an opportunity to equalise before Fraizer Campbell pulled his team level.

It was simple football very well done. Peter Whittingham passed forward to Mutch, in space. He turned and passed forward to Campbell, running in behind Jonny Evans and far quicker than him. Campbell controlled and finished perfectly, in to the bottom corner.

Campbell volleyed another chance over, before Don Cowie could not convert Andrew Taylor’s cross and then Whittingham missed when a free-kick fell to him.

Impressive football from Cardiff, certainly, but not enough, not least when United had Rooney, liberated by his let-off. In the last minute of the first half he whipped a corner into the near post where Patrice Evra snuck behind Medel, leaped, met the ball, and beat Marshall.

Two defensive errors had cost Cardiff two goals and they had to be immaculate to stay in the game after the interval. David Marshall saved from Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling headers, both, naturally, from Rooney set-pieces.

Cardiff were never going to stop fighting and they looked for their second equaliser with tireless effort, if not quite enough intricacy. Tom Cleverley created Cardiff’s best chance in open play, passing the ball straight into Campbell’s path, and his chip beat David De Gea before hitting the crossbar. Whittingham’s ambitious volley from distance flew wide before he curled in a brilliant free-kick which Cleverley headed just over his own bar.

It was another Whittingham delivery, from the opposite side, which brought Cardiff’s equaliser.

Cardiff (4-1-4-1)

Marshall 7; Theophile-Catherine 6, Caulker 7, Turner 6, Taylor 7; Medel 6; Cowie 7, Mutch 7 (Kim 77), Whittingham 8, Odemwingie 5 (Noone, 65, 6) Campbell 7 (Cornelius 84)

United (4-4-2)

De Gea 6; Smalling 5, Ferdinand 6, Evans 6, Evra 7; Valencia 6, Fellaini 5, Cleverley 5, Janujaz 5 (Welbeck, 67, 6); Hernandez 6 (Giggs, 73) Rooney 8

Man of the Match: Rooney

Rating: 8

Forward Marko Arnautovic believes his Stoke team-mate Charlie Adam's recent exploits have sent a message to Potters boss Mark Hughes.

Adam was a key figure for the Staffordshire outfit in their 2-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Sunderland on Saturday.

The midfielder scored the opening goal on the half hour and was involved in the build-up to Steven Nzonzi's strike that wrapped up the three points for the hosts in the 81st minute.

Adam had been restored to the first XI after starting on the bench for the last three league games.

In Stoke's previous outing he had come off it and kept his cool to convert a stoppage-time penalty that earned his side a 3-3 draw at Swansea.

And Arnautovic is in no doubt Adam should now be a regular fixture in the starting line-up.

Asked about the Scotland international's goal against Sunderland, Arnautovic said: "It was important for him.

"In the last few games he has not played from the start and now he has showed that he has to play."

Adam was also involved in the most controversial moment in the game when he was challenged by Wes Brown in the 36th minute.

Referee Kevin Friend deemed the sliding tackle from Brown that won the Sunderland defender the ball - and replays of which suggested any contact between the players had been minimal - to be worthy of a straight red card, a decision that left Black Cats boss Gus Poyet fuming.

Arnautovic claimed he did not see the incident, but said of the match overall: "I think we did well but we were also lucky because they got a red card.

"They had one man less than us and then they tried to push because they wanted to score a goal, so we went on the counter-attack and Steven's was a nice goal."

The Austria international added: "I can only say I'm happy to have these three points and win this game.

"We have to keep playing like this so we can keep going up the table. We need the points."

Having recorded their first win in nine league matches, Hughes' side, who had been 17th at the start of the day and separated from the relegation zone by goal difference alone, moved up to 14th on 13 points from 12 games.

While they are three points clear of the drop zone, Sunderland are three points adrift of safety and have slipped a place to bottom spot.

Poyet, in charge of them now for five league games since succeeding the sacked Paolo Di Canio, had plenty to say about the red card incident after the contest.

The Uruguayan manager called for an apology from referees' chief Mike Riley - West Brom boss Steve Clarke recently said he had received one - and the Black Cats are expected to appeal.

But Poyet would not say that the decision had definitely cost his side the game, and added: "We need to change things.

"We need to improve and keep getting better, make sure we don't concede so that we stay in the game and can win it, keep believing in the game we are playing.

"I think we are better, but the problem is that we need to be a little bit better again to win games away from home. We have not done it once this season."

Sunderland have won both their home league games under Poyet and lost all three away matches.