Tottenham's wretched start to the Premier
League season continued as Aston Villa held off a late fightback from the hosts
to claim their first league win of the campaign.
Spurs were booed off at the final whistle
and despite lavishing over £300m on new signings in the summer are already
beginning to give the impression of a club in crisis, with this defeat meaning
they have eclipsed the 2008-09 campaign which was their worst opening to a
season in the Premier League.
Goals from Johan Manzambi, Nicolas
Jackson and Emiliano Buendia saw Aston Villa's campaign finally achieve
lift-off.
Conor Gallagher's late tap-in and Jan
Paul van Hecke's header, with the final touch of the game, came too late to
make a meaningful difference to the result.
Roberto de Zerbi's home side could point
to key moments in the game going against them, with captain Micky van de Ven
off the pitch receiving treatment when Villa's record signing Manzambi prodded
in the opener very much against the run of play.
VAR's intervention on the hour mark also
correctly denied them an equaliser, with Andy Robertson found to be offside by
the slightest of margins in the build-up to Mohammed Kudus bundling the ball
over the line from close range.
That gave Villa the impetus to go on and
seal their first league win of 2026-27 in style.
Jackson, who was a threat throughout,
brilliantly found the left corner from the edge of the box with Spurs defender
Van Hecke backing off, and Argentine midfielder Buendia curled another superb
effort into the same corner from even further out.
Those goals and an impressive first-half
performance from visiting goalkeeper Zion Suzuki provided the visitors with a
more than merited win to help them climb out of the bottom three and up to
15th, while Spurs are 18th.
Tottenham analysis: Hosts fails to press
home early advantage
De Zerbi's team actually held sway for
much of the first period, and with Savio tormenting Villa left-back Matteo
Ruggeri, it seemed only a matter of time before they went in front.
Suzuki made three important stops to deny
the Brazil winger from close range and enjoyed some good fortune when Archie
Gray's effort clipped wide off his heel.
Sandro Tonali also went close during a
spell in which the visitors struggled to get out of their own half, and many
supporters will be able to draw parallels to their home loss against Newcastle,
when they were again the dominant force until conceding.
This time they were initially undone by a
panicky attempted clearance from Robertson, with Van de Ven off the field.
And once they were behind, a Villa win
felt like the inevitable conclusion, with Spurs now having failed to win any of
their previous 48 games in all competitions in which they have conceded the
opening goal.
Aston Villa analysis: Emery's revamped
side taking shape
Given that the Villa side that triumphed
in the Europa League final has been ripped apart, boss Unai Emery will be
delighted by the way his rebuild is starting to take shape.
With victories over Club Brugge in the
Champions League and Coventry City in the Carabao Cup secured, his Villa team
finally got off the mark in the Premier League.
And three players signed to replace some
of the heroes from that night in Istanbul in May delivered for him against
Spurs.
Keeper Suzuki gave a performance brimming
with promise, making several excellent saves and showing composure with the
ball at his feet - on this form he appears a more than adequate replacement for
Emiliano Martinez.
Manzambi provided energy and threat
playing behind Jackson, who led the line in fine fashion and deserved his goal
against opponents he simply loves scoring against.
A fifth of the Senegal forward's 25 goals
in the English top flight have now come against Spurs.