Tottenham Hotspur laid down a marker with a 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
Goals in each half from Heung-Min Son and Giovani Lo Celso saw José Mourinho's side take all three points in north London to go top of the table.
And for the first time in six years, they'll stay there overnight as they made an announcement that their title challenge is on.
In a professional performance from start to finish, Spurs completely dominated Pep Guardiola's side.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game Mourinho had nothing but praise for his side.
"They were amazing.
"Harry Kane represents the spirit of all the other guys, the way he works for the team is the same way the other ones do it.
"It was very important to respect them [Manchester City] and not to forget the team they are.
"If you follow people speaking about them not being as good as before, if you follow the fake table, because they have one match in hand, we would probably play in a different way.
"But against these guys, we all know how Pep teams are and the quality of the players, we found a way to play and it was magnificent to see them do what they did, so super congratulations to the players.
"City are a fantastic team that lost against a team that strategically was very good but City is still City."
Spurs go 🔝 of the league#TOTMCI pic.twitter.com/MBQTkLbtBu
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 21, 2020
What makes this performance and win even more impressive is it came off the back of an international break which meant Mourinho had little time to prepare with his players.
He said work he conducted with his backroom team was crucial to the win.
"They [Tottenham's players] didn't have time to work, but we had.
"Myself, my assistants, the analyst guys, the I.T. guys and we trained on that side of the game but you can only do that when there are principles the team has already.
"We knew that they would have more of the ball but we would feel very comfortable playing that way because we knew the way to do it."
Spurs are top of the table with the victory and will stay there at least until Liverpool play on Sunday.
They've six wins in nine games so far this season, registering just the one loss, and face fellow title contenders Chelsea next weekend.
The Portuguese manager wasn't interested though in looking ahead to this game, saying they have to focus on their midweek Europa League tie at home to Bulgarian Champions Ludogorets.
He did, however, heap further praise on his side;
"Every player did their job in an amazing way.
"Even what we call the emergency principles which is when somebody tired is not in position you have the emergency rules.
"Everybody had an incredible friendship and solidarity, everybody was amazing."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
