Sergio Aguero won his personal striking duel with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane, scoring the winner for Manchester City as they ended a four-game losing streak on the road in the Premier League on Sunday.
With Chelsea already celebrating capturing City's Premier League title across London, last season's champions were indebted to Aguero's sharp-shooting skills and keeper Joe Hart's agility as they earned a 1-0 win to stay in second place.
Aguero now leads the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot with 22 goals this season, two more than Kane who endured a frustrating game as the hosts all but kissed goodbye to their already slender top-four hopes.
The Argentine's goals have proved in vain in trying to keep City on the heels of Chelsea. But his quality was too much for Tottenham as City virtually guaranteed a Champions League berth.
Aguero has now scored 10 times against Tottenham and his latest effort was a gem.
A lightning City break in the 29th minute saw Hart find David Silva with a quick throw and the Spaniard's through ball was perfect for the striker who fired past Hugo Lloris.
"We started off a bit frantic then we got it together, with Sergio up front he's always going to get us a goal and we defended with our lives at the back and we got the win," City keeper Hart, who made crucial stops from England duo Kane and Ryan Mason, told Sky Sports.
"It was a terrific run from David, an easy pass for me and Sergio does the rest, which he's proved that he's absolutely fantastic at."
While City's season has been a disappointment, boss Manuel Pellegrini said people should wait until the end of the season before evaluating it.
"I think it's important to finish as near the top as possible and see where we need to improve," he said.
"Maybe Chelsea are more consistent this year and they won the league but we scored more when we did it.
"We have to finish the season now and then we will analyse it."
With three games to play, City are 13 points behind champions Chelsea and three above Arsenal who have two games in hand.
