Tottenham were booed off at full-time after slipping to a 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa, a result that left their supporters contemplating the increasing likelihood of another tormented season. De Zerbi’s side had begun strongly but petered out, and the two goals they managed were both late consolations rather than any kind of rescue act.
For much of the opening half-hour, the story belonged to Zion Suzuki. He was arguably the man of the match and certainly the star of the early exchanges, making a series of saves to deny Spurs the goal they so clearly desired — a double save from Sávio in the 11th minute the pick of them, along with a quite spectacular stop to deny Archie Gray with his heel.
Those saves added up to frustration in the ground and began to change the tone of the match. Spurs’ supporters were getting a sense that it might be another one of those days, while Villa’s players began to relax a little, knowing they had a barrier behind them. With direct passes to Nicolas Jackson regularly troubling the Tottenham defence, a chance seemed bound to fall their way.
It arrived in first-half added time, with one half of Spurs’ central defensive pairing — captain Micky van de Ven — off the pitch receiving treatment on the touchline for a cut on his cheek, leaving Spurs temporarily down to 10 men. Emi Buendía dinked yet another pass over the defensive line, and although it was partially dealt with, Andy Robertson overplayed, sliding the ball blind to John McGinn. The Villa captain whipped the ball back into the box, Boubacar Kamara had his shot deflected and Johan Manzambi was on hand to scoop a shot into the net from six yards out.
Roberto De Zerbi responded by bringing on Mohammed Kudus for Mateus Fernandes at half-time, and the mercurial Ghanaian lifted the roof off the stadium within 15 minutes of his arrival as he poked home from six yards out after a Robertson cross. VAR pulled the goal back, however, for an offside on the Scotsman.
It felt in the moment that was game over, so fragile was Spurs’ confidence, and Villa duly turned the screw. Jackson struck next with a piece of predatory magic, latching on to a long kick from Suzuki, laying the ball off to Manzambi and taking the quick return on his chest. He lifted it over the head of Van de Ven and finished ruthlessly right-footed into the bottom-right corner. Antonin Kinsky got a touch, but it was not nearly enough. Jackson celebrated by playing the Roman emperor, turning his thumb down into the camera.
With 10 minutes remaining, and Villa camped out on the edge of the Spurs area, Buendía joined the fun with a perfect long-range effort. With minimal backlift, the ball swept round his marker, out beyond the goal and then back in to smash into the top right corner of the net.
Spurs at least found something late on. Conor Gallagher, brought off the bench with six minutes of normal time remaining, scored within three minutes of his arrival, and Jean Paul van Hecke reduced the deficit to one with the last touch of the match. It made for a kinder final scoreline but not a kinder mood: the boos still rang out at full-time. This had been billed as a match between two teams with poor form and high hopes. Villa look to have shed the former. Whether Spurs can still lay claim to the latter is another matter.