Tottenham’s late fightback falls short as Aston Villa hand Spurs a 3-2 defeat, with Bentancur impressing and Solanke struggling.
Tottenham Hotspur dropped into the Premier League relegation zone after suffering a frustrating 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Head coach Roberto De Zerbi watched his side dominate large spells of the first half, only to trail to Johan Manzambi’s close-range opener.
Spurs thought they were level in the second half, but Mohammed Kudus saw his equalizer ruled out for offside. Aston Villa capitalized quickly, as Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendia found the net to build a three-goal advantage. Late strikes from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke reduced the scoreline, but Tottenham ran out of time in their search for a comeback.
Full Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings
Antonin Kinsky (5/10): Produced a fine stop to deny Emi Buendia in the first half and made a brave save against Nicolas Jackson after the interval. Could do little about the three goals that beat him.
Pedro Porro (N/A): Forced off after just 19 minutes due to an injury concern. Spurs will hope the upcoming three-week international break provides adequate recovery time.
Jan Paul van Hecke (5/10): Booked for a late foul and was bypassed too easily by Villa attackers throughout the afternoon. Poor for Villa’s second goal, though he scored a late header to reduce the deficit.
Micky van de Ven (5/10): Slightly better than his central defensive partner, but was beaten cleanly for Jackson’s goal. Nearly pulled one back earlier with a late header on target.
Andy Robertson (4/10): Caught offside on a couple of occasions and offered very little attacking impetus from left-back.
Sandro Tonali (5/10): Started brightly in central areas, but dropped off significantly as the match progressed, leaving Spurs overrun in midfield.
Rodrigo Bentancur (7/10): Tottenham’s best player on the pitch. Aside from one misplaced pass into touch, the Uruguayan was industrious and maintained high energy, though he needed more support late on.
Mateus Fernandes (5/10): Completed some neat passes during the first half before being surprisingly withdrawn at the half-time break.
Savio (5/10): Tried to make things happen on the wing and forced a couple of saves, but lacked the required accuracy in key moments.
Omar Marmoush (4/10): Showed sharp movement in spots, but ultimately had very little impact on the match.
Dominic Solanke (3/10): Did not look sharp and struggled to hold up play against Villa’s backline. Lasted only 66 minutes before being replaced.
Substitutes
Archie Gray (6/10): Put in a hard-working performance after replacing Porro early on and came close to scoring shortly after entering the pitch.
Mohammed Kudus (6/10): Converted from close range only to see his effort disallowed for offside. Created spark late on to help produce Tottenham’s late goal.
James Maddison (5/10): Played a few smart passes after coming on, but struggled to establish complete control over central midfield.
Conor Gallagher (N/A): Came on in the 85th minute and made an immediate impact by scoring Tottenham’s second goal.
Lucas Bergvall (N/A): Replaced Bentancur late in the game as Spurs pushed for an equalizer.
