Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Aston Villa
It never rains at Tottenham. It pours, torrentially and seemingly constantly.
A home game against an Aston Villa side – one of the few teams in the Premier League at kick-off with a worse record than Spurs – looked to be the perfect chance to go into the international break with a spring in their step.
Spurs hadn’t won or even scored in the four games that preceded this. They at least addressed the latter statistic, although that will be merely a crumb of comfort for long-suffering supporters.
But their winless run goes on and they look no better this season than they did last, despite a monumental £300million summer splurge. That splurge was supposed to drag this team up the table. It was supposed to ensure there would not be a third straight season of fighting against relegation. So far, it has backfired massively.
Roberto de Zerbi – and those above him in the hierarchy – now has three weeks to stew over this latest defeat.
Whilst there were boos to greet the Tottenham players as they left the field at full-time, they actually started quite well and but for Villa’s inspired goalkeeper Zion Suzuki they may well have taken the lead.
The Japanese international kept out Savio twice in quick succession in the first half and that proved crucial in the last moments of the half when Johan Manzambi – Villa’s record signing – fired in from close range to open the scoring.
Spurs were a man down at the time with skipper Micky van de Ven receiving treatment, but their complaints fell on deaf ears. So too did a hopeful, half-hearted shout for a penalty after Mateus Fernandes went down in the box far too softly.
Spurs came out sprightly in the second half and thought they had equalised on the hour when Mohammed Kudus scored from close-range from an Andy Robertson centre.
But VAR correctly pointed out that Robertson had strayed offside in the build-up and the goal was chalked off.
Villa then doubled their lead when Nicolas Jackson showed good control and a precise finish as he drilled a shot beyond the reach of Antonín Kinský, whose weak attempt to palm the ball away prevented it from going in the net.
Emi Buendia then scored a stunner from outside the box to prompt a mass exodus from the home sections of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Those that did stay behind at least saw a bit of a fightback from their side. Conor Gallagher tapped in from a few yards out – as Spurs finally scored a league goal – before Jan Paul van Hecke’s header gave the scoreline a bit of respectability but in truth it was yet another forgettable day at the office.
A crestfallen De Zerbi concluded post-match: “We have to be stronger. We have to put on the pitch something more than we are putting. Football is tactical but it is blood, it is fighting, it is first one on the ball. Without that it is tough to win the game.
“As a coach I take responsibility. I can work better, harder and more. I can explain my opinion about the performance and about what we can do more. But in the end I can’t change something more in the behaviour. I think we are not lucky in this period but you have to deserve luck and the positive things and we are not good enough to deserve luck in this moment.”
A jubilant Unai Emery, meanwhile, had contrasting emotions. He said: “We had to be patient and resilient in the moments when they were attacking. We needed to defend and be committed in this direction. Through that, we could grow into the game, create chances to score and eventually win.
“Deserved or not, this is the competitive way that we have achieved results before during the time I have been here. We are delighted with how the players responded to the game plan that we put in place, and also with how the players felt comfortable and gained confidence during the game.”
