When this match was chosen for live transmission by the BBC they must have hoped it would emulate the 1981 FA Cup final between these teams, settled by Ricky Villa's remarkable run, which, as Alan Hansen pointed out with a brusque absence of romance, was unimpeded by any Manchester City tackle.

That goal was, however, scored in a replay, the first match was forgettably drawn and it was this 1981 final which the corporation got for their money. A draw might have been anticipated, since it was the sixth successive stalemate at the City of Manchester Stadium and the umpteenth unconvincing performance in an arena where Manchester City have not won since October.

This would have accounted for the swathes of blue bucket seats visible across the stadium. The crowd was 20,000 below capacity and four less than saw Total Network Solutions massacred in the Uefa Cup in August.

In the five months since, optimism and belief have steadily drained from the club until there was scarcely a quorum yesterday to lift a banner proclaiming Manchester City's fans "the most loyal in the world". Kevin Keegan thought that live television rather than dead recent performances were to blame for the absences, but those who shuffled away at the final whistle were in a black mood.

The one flaw in bringing David James to Manchester is that he is ineligible for the FA Cup, and when Arni Arason was injured in training on Thursday, the goalkeeping duties fell to Kevin Stuhr-Ellegaard, who throughout looked nervous. At times it was dangerous even to test him with a back-pass.

He was nowhere near Helder Postiga's corner, which was comfortably headed in by Gary Doherty, a centre-half whom his manager, David Pleat, thought compared to Steve Foster, the former Luton Town defender, for his "magnetic" ability to find the ball with his head in the area. Ten minutes from time Postiga, whose cost-per-goal ratio is worse than even Jon Macken's, was presented with a free header that he sent over the crossbar. Pleat, his hands already raised in celebration, sank wearily to his knees.

Nevertheless, after a first half in which Tottenham were tepid, fearful and unco-ordinated, Pleat ended the match happy. "I am filled with pleasure at the way we came back from a mediocre - and that is being kind - first half. It was a vibrant display," he said. "I am pleased for the supporters who would not have known what to do at half-time. They can go back home with hope."

The match was turned by the invention of Robbie Keane, the intervention of Stéphane Dalmat, who had not started the match because of injury, and the shifting of Ledley King to left back in place of Mauricio Taricco, who had been roughly dealt with by Trevor Sinclair. There was also Manchester City's almost wilful lack of self-belief to contend with.

And yet they had begun in a relaxed, almost jaunty mood. Robbie Fowler had just seen a deflected shot turned past the post by Kasey Keller when, from the resulting corner, he headed against the post and saw the rebound slither through the goalkeeper's hands straight to the boots of Nicolas Anelka. The Frenchman duly scored his seventh and simplest goal in as many games. From this position of strength, City promptly collapsed.

Since so many of Keegan's squad are internationals over the age of 30, it is difficult to understand why, Claudio Reyna apart, none is a natural leader. "There are a lot of international players here but there are also a lot of new faces," Keegan said. "If there is a shadow hanging over your head, it can get to the most experienced player."

Goals: Anelka (10) 1-0; Doherty (57) 1-1.

Manchester City: (4-4-2) Ellegaard; Sun Jihai, Dunne, Distin, Tarnat; Sinclair, Bosvelt, Reyna, Sibierski (Wright-Phillips, 69); Fowler (Macken, 69), Anelka. Substitutes not used: Arason (gk), McManaman, Sommeil.

Tottenham Hotspur: (4-4-2) Keller; Carr, Doherty, Gardner, Taricco (Jackson, h-t); Anderton (Dalmat, h-t), Brown, King, Davies; Postiga, Keane. Substitutes not used: Hirschfeld (gk), Bunjevcevic, Zamora.

Referee: S Dunn (Gloucestershire).

Bookings: Manchester City: Reyna, Bosvelt. Tottenham: Carr, Anderton.

Man of the match: Keane.

Attendance: 28,840.