Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Aston Villa: result and report

Report

Aston Villa won 3-2 at Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs had more of the ball, but Villa made the better use of the chances that mattered. The one-goal margin hides how far ahead Villa were for most of the second half, though the finish was far closer than it should have been.

Johan Manzambi scored in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, with Boubacar Kamara providing the assist. That changed the shape of the game, because Spurs went into the break chasing it despite having more of the ball.

Manzambi then set up Nicolas Jackson on 67 minutes. Emiliano Buendía made it 3-0 on 79 minutes from John McGinn's pass. A goal and an assist made Manzambi the standout player of the match, while Villa never needed long spells on the ball to do damage.

Tottenham Hotspur: plenty of ball, not better chances

Spurs dominated territory. They had 64% of the possession and 15 shots to Villa's 10. They also led dangerous attacks by 78 to 25. Yet the quality of chances was almost level, with Villa edging xG 1.53 to 1.45. Villa got as much from fewer shots, so the home side's pressure looked bigger than it really was.

There is one counter-signal Spurs can take. They created four big chances to Villa's two and forced five saves from the Villa goalkeeper. That suggests a game that could have been tighter earlier, even if the overall chance quality stayed balanced.

The late rally

The comeback came too late to matter. Conor Gallagher pulled one back on 86 minutes after Mohammed Kudus set him up. Jan Paul van Hecke then scored from Andrew Robertson's assist in the eighth minute of stoppage time. Those goals made the scoreline respectable, though Spurs only found their finishing once the game was already close to gone.