Aston Villa grab victory despite late Spurs goals as De Zerbi’s side are booed off

Spurs have a remarkable ability to find new ways of inflicting pain on their fanbase and they did it again here, petering out from a strong start into humiliating defeat to confirm their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign. On the upside, they did get two goals. They were both late consolations, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Aston Villa were meanwhile ruthless in claiming their first victory of the season. They capitalised in first-half added time to take the lead while Spurs were temporarily down to 10 men. In the second, Unai Emery’s side were robust in defence and clinical on the counter, and supreme strikes from both Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendía decided the contest. With Johan Manzambi the other goalscorer, there were pleasing signs for the Spaniard’s turbo-charged refit of his team.

Zion Suzuki was probably the man of the match and certainly the star of the first half hour. He made a series of saves in the opening phase of the game to deny Spurs the goal they so desperately craved. The highlight perhaps was a double stop from Sávio in the 11th minute, but also worth a mention is the save that denied Archie Gray from a tight angle with his heel. Suzuki made more passes into the final third than any other player on the pitch too, his 14 double the tally of Spurs’ £100m signing Sandro Tonali.

All the Japan international’s saves added up to frustration in the ground and that frustration began to affect the tone of the match. Spurs’ supporters were getting a sense that it might be (another) one of those days, and Villa’s players began to relax a little knowing they had a barrier behind them. With direct passes to Jackson regularly troubling the Spurs defence, a chance would surely fall their way eventually.

That moment ultimately arrived in first half added time and with one half of Spurs’ central defensive pairing – Micky van de Ven – receiving treatment on the touchline. The captain was being mopped up for a cut cheek as Buendía dinked yet another pass over the Spurs defensive line. It was partially dealt with, but Andy Robertson overplayed and in trying to activate a counterattack, slid the ball blind to John McGinn. The Villa captain whipped the ball back into the box, Boubacar Kamara’s shot was deflected and Manzambi was on hand to scoop a shot into the net from six yards out.

Tottenham fans leave the stadium with their side three goals behind. Photograph: Shutterstock

Roberto De Zerbi brought on Mohammed Kudus for the wishy-washy 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, only for the video assistant referee to pull it back for an offside on the Scotsman.

It felt in the moment that that was game over, so fragile was the Spurs sense of confidence. But there was time for Villa to turn the screw, Jackson next to strike with a piece of predatory magic. Latching on to a long kick from Suzuki, Jackson laid the ball off to Manzambi, who quickly returned the pass. The Senegal forward took the ball on his chest, lifted it Gazza-like over the head of Van de Ven and ruthlessly finished right-footed into the bottom corner. Antonin Kinsky got a touch but it wasn’t nearly enough and Jackson celebrated by playing the Roman emperor and turning his thumb down to the camera.

With 10 minutes remaining, and Villa camped out on the edge of the Spurs box, Buendía joined the fun with a perfect long-range effort. With minimal backlift it swept round his marker, out beyond the goal and then back in to smash into the top corner of Kinsky’s net.

Conor Gallagher, coming off the bench with six minutes of normal time remaining, scored within three minutes of his arrival, while Jan Paul van Hecke reduced the deficit to just one with the last touch of the match. But the boos still rose up as fans contemplated the increasing likelihood of another tormented season. This had been billed as a match between two teams with poor form but high hopes. Villa look to have shed the former, can Tottenham still lay claim to the latter?