Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City will be a Premier League force again in the future after Erling Haaland sealed a 1-0 win at Tottenham on Wednesday.
Haaland’s clinical finish in the 12th minute bolstered City’s bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League as they moved into fourth place.
Battling to finish in the top four is a significant letdown for City after they won the last four Premier League titles to make it six in seven seasons for Guardiola.
Liverpool look almost certain to take the title this season, but City — beaten 2-0 by the Reds on Sunday — have been out of the race for months after a dismal period which has left them 20 points adrift of the leaders.
With City also out of the Champions League following their play-off loss to Real Madrid, Guardiola has only the FA Cup left as a path to silverware this season.
But in the longer-term, the Spaniard remains convinced City can be restored to their former glory despite a team ageing in some positions and lacking Premier League experience in others.
The good and bad sides to City’s spluttering team were on full display in north London as they started brightly but wasted a series of chances to increase their lead before clinging on under heavy pressure after the interval.
“Never will be this season the old City,” Guardiola said. “Old City were too good, but we will be back.
“The game, it was open second half because we didn’t close the first. In this stadium always they have 20 to 25 minutes and second half we suffered.
“It’s happened many times this season that we give away an unbelievable amount of goals and up front there are many games, like Champions League at Sporting we should be 1-3 or 1-4 in the first half and we lost 4-1. Many times it happens and today fortunately it finished good.”
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou claimed overeagerness hurt his injury-hit team during a one-sided first half.
Postecoglou’s men have endured a season almost as troubled as City’s, leaving them in 13th place and chasing Europa League glory to end a 17-year trophy drought.
“First half we were just a little bit too eager to get forward with the ball. I thought we were really wasteful and when you are against City, it allows them to get into a rhythm,” Postecoglou said.
“They can pick you off at different times and we just didn’t handle that part of the game well. They scored and had a couple of good chances to get further ahead.
“I certainly felt second half we dominated the game and territory. We were pretty relentless. Much better with the ball and a lot calmer but just missing a goal and ultimately fell short.
“It’s disappointing to lose again and that’s the main feeling, but it did look more like us today.”
