It is one of the curiosities of Thomas Tuchel’s rapidly evolving England side that until today the man in possession of the No 10 shirt had not scored all season.
Morgan Rogers put paid to that statistic with a sumptuous strike to equalise for Aston Villa, before the more prolific substitute Emiliano Buendía scored his third goal in four games to win the match with a lovely finish, condemning the home side to leave the field to a chorus of boos.
It has become a familiar sound at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium over the past 12 months, which even the positivity generated by Thomas Frank’s arrival and an unprecedented £200m summer transfer spend has been unable to shift.
After taking a fifth-minute lead through Rodrigo Bentancur, this was a golden opportunity for Tottenham to move up to second in the table and put pressure on Arsenal, but they faded badly in the second half as their creative spark Mohammed Kudus tired, and did not respond after failing behind with 13 minutes remaining.
More worryingly the defeat conforms to a pattern of Tottenham starting well but flattering to deceive, with home games against Bournemouth, Burnley, Wolves and Villa bringing just a solitary victory. Over a longer period, their home record is just three wins in 18 games, leaving Frank to face the line of questioning that stalked his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou.
“It’s not that simple,” Frank said of Tottenham’s struggles at home. “We performed well against Burnley, Wolves and Villa, but not against Bournemouth. A clear draw became a defeat today. The fans were good, and helped with what they could. They would have loved a 3-0 win and the place rocking, but it wasn’t to be. We looked quite good, but lost 2-1 due to two top quality goals.”
Villa in contrast are flying, with this hard-fought victory appearing to confirm their pre-international break revival could become permanent. After five successive wins in all competitions the misery of a disappointing, PSR-affected summer and slow start to the season seems like a distant memory.
As Frank suggested the visitors’ goals were worthy of winning any game, with Rogers beating Guglielmo Vicario with a long-range curler from the edge of the area and Buendía capitalising on some quick-thinking from Matty Cash and Lucas Digne.
While Buendía has been pivotal to Villa’s recent revival with goals in previous wins against Fulham and Feyenoord, it is Rogers’ strike which may have long-term significance.
The 23-year-old scored 14 times last season but began this campaign in the doldrums in a summer where he had been linked to Chelsea, so replicating his international form, after scoring for England against Wales, for Villa would be a huge boost for Unai Emery.
The Spaniard also declared himself equally impressed with another goal-shy England star, Ollie Watkins, who gave Villa an extra attacking edge when he came off the bench for the final half hour.
“Morgan is playing and scoring, but he’s helping the team for 90 minutes,” Emery said. “He has that capacity. He was always doing his task. He’s a hard worker. When you work you show your skill. Watkins didn’t score or assist, but he played fantastic for 30 minutes. They are both very important for us.”
Villa had ridden their luck to stay in the game, with Tottenham dominating the ball and creating more chances for the first hour, but unable to capitalise after going ahead. Amadou Onana could only clear Mathys Tel’s corner as far as the edge of the Villa penalty, from where Tel played the ball back out to Kudus on the left flank.
Kudus’ cross found João Palhinha at the back post for the Portugal midfielder to head back across goal to Bentancur, who scored with a well-controlled half-volley from just inside the penalty area. Kudus thought he had doubled Tottenham’s lead two minutes later, but was offside after running on to Micky Van de Ven’s long through ball.
Villa’s only attempt on goal in the opening half-hour was a shot that flashed past the far post from Matty Cash, whose every touch was booed in a legacy of his reckless challenge on Bentancur two years ago. The Polish international’s tenacity created a rare opening seven minutes before half-time, with his pressure on the ball creating a half chance for Rogers, who took full advantage to score.
Rogers struck the ball well, but it beat Vicario in the middle of his goal and he looked faintly embarrassed as he collected it from the back of the net, one of his first touches of a hitherto quiet afternoon.
Villa were more competitive in the second half, with Donyell Malen hitting the side-netting just before the hour, but their winner was still unexpected. A cleared corner fell on the halfway line to Cash, who showed great vision to attack the ball and play a thunderous half-volley to the right for Digne, who released Buendía. The Argentine cut in from the flank and beat Vicario to seal the points.
Rogers and Buendía showed real quality in crucial moments in a manner which proved beyond Tottenham, who continue to be troubled by familiar failings.
