Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa: De Zerbi Faces Pressure After Home Defeat

Tottenham head into the international break winless, goalless no more, and deep in trouble.

A 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa leaves Roberto De Zerbi’s side in the relegation zone and the mood around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turning poisonous. By the time Emi Buendia’s screamer hit the net, a good chunk of the home crowd had already decided they had seen enough.

This was Villa’s first league win of the season. It felt like something far bigger for Unai Emery’s side – and something far darker for Spurs.

Spurs start fast, Villa land the first punch

For 20 minutes, Tottenham looked like a team ready to wake up.

They pressed high, snapped into tackles, and peppered Zion Suzuki’s goal. The Villa keeper stood up to it all. On nine minutes he produced a sharp double save, denying Savio twice from close range and setting the tone for his afternoon.

Then came the first setback. Pedro Porro pulled up with what looked like a groin problem and limped off in clear frustration. His replacement, Archie Gray, almost made an instant impact, bursting in from the angle only to be denied again by Suzuki. Spurs were on top, the crowd with them, the pressure building.

And then it all flipped.

Just before the break, Micky van de Ven took a heavy blow to the face while clearing a set-piece and had to leave the pitch for treatment. Spurs were briefly down to 10 men. Villa smelled opportunity.

In the third minute of stoppage time, they struck. Attacking down Tottenham’s left, they worked the ball into the box and Johan Manzambi, unmarked, drilled in his first goal for the club. One chance. One goal. One furious stadium.

VAR cruelty and a collapse of composure

Tottenham’s goal drought had hung over the game like a cloud. On the hour, they thought they had finally blown it away.

Sandro Tonali slid Andy Robertson in down the left, the full-back whipped across goal, and Mohammed Kudus poked home. The stadium erupted, players celebrated, the drought was over – or so they thought.

VAR stepped in. Robertson had strayed offside in the build-up. The goal was wiped away. The groans were louder than the cheers that had come before.

The reaction from Spurs was exactly what De Zerbi had warned against.

"I spoke with the four attackers to use their heads calmly, play calm, play, enjoy, don't take risks," he said later. They did the opposite.

Chasing the game, Tottenham lost their shape and their discipline. The punishment was swift.

On 67 minutes, Nicolas Jackson bullied Van de Ven in a one-on-one duel, shrugged him aside and drilled low into the corner for 2-0. A ruthless finish, the kind of moment Spurs are desperately missing at the other end.

De Zerbi was livid with the manner of the concession.

"We can't lose this game in this way, absolutely," he said. "We can't concede the second goal, we can't lose balance just because in the first half we are losing in the beginning of the second half."

They did. And Villa weren’t done.

Buendia brilliance, toxic chants and late, hollow hope

By now the anxiety in the stands had turned to anger. Spurs pushed but with little conviction, leaving huge spaces for Villa to exploit.

On 79 minutes, Buendia stepped into one of them and ended the contest in brutal style.

Collecting the ball 25 yards out, he shifted, looked up and whipped a wonderful strike beyond the helpless keeper and into the top corner. A goal of real quality, a finish to match the travelling Villa fans’ mood.

From the away end came the chant that cuts deepest for any manager under pressure: "You’re getting sacked in the morning." It rang around a stadium where the exits were suddenly busy.

Inside, those who stayed turned to sarcasm.

On 86 minutes, Tottenham finally scored their first Premier League goal of the season. Conor Gallagher reacted quickest in the box and poked home from close range. Instead of joy, the strike was met with ironic cheers. The drought was over, but the damage was done.

Deep into stoppage time, Jan Paul van Hecke rose to head in for 3-2, giving the scoreline a respectability the performance didn’t deserve. The referee blew for full-time almost immediately after the restart. There was no grandstand finish, no late siege. Just a low rumble of boos and a fanbase left stewing for three long weeks.

Emery’s men step up as Spurs unravel

While Tottenham wrestled with their own crisis, Villa quietly put down a marker.

Emery had demanded more from his new-look side after a slow start to the campaign. He got it here, especially from two of his key men.

Speaking afterwards, the Villa boss singled out Suzuki and Jackson.

"They are here for it," Emery said. "Their commitment to us, challenging themselves to achieve what we did before and replacing important players, is fantastic."

"Zion is maintaining the performance he showed before, and Jackson clearly improved from the previous matches. This is the way and the example of how he played."

Suzuki’s early saves kept Villa alive. Jackson’s duel with Van de Ven and clinical finish killed the contest. Around them, Villa looked organised, resilient, and increasingly confident as Spurs frayed at the edges.

Emery called it "a clear step forward". It felt like one.

De Zerbi under fire and three long weeks to wait

For De Zerbi, the break comes at an awkward time. Not that he was in the mood to discuss it.

"Maybe it's better, I didn't speak with the players today because I didn't want to say anything," he admitted. "I'm very disappointed, very sad, very frustrated for the performance."

He did not spare his squad, either.

"The players who go with the national team they have to play, they have to work and the other players like Gallagher, Solanke, Tosin, Senesi, Savio for sure we have to work more because of the physical condition I didn't like in this game."

Former Spurs defender Michael Dawson summed up the mood on Soccer Saturday.

"The pressure heats up," he said. "That's what happens when you finish 17th twice, you spend all this money, there's a huge expectation around the football club. I believed there was going to be a shift but when there isn't, it breeds and now, unfortunately, for Spurs, they've got three weeks to wait until the next game."

Five wins in their last 36 matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. No league victories this season. A fanbase already turning.

The international break offers time. What it doesn’t guarantee is answers.