5 Things we learned from Aston Villa’s crushing win over Spurs

1. Just the way Unai Emery dreamt it up last night(bar the late goals). This was an absolutely massive game for both teams that had yet to win in the Premier League up to now but it was Aston Villa that grabbed all three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs were actually the much better team in the first half and easily could been 2 or 3 goals up had it not been for Zion Zuzuki in the Villa goal making some brilliant saves to keep out Savinho and Archie Gray. In typical Spurs fashion this season just on the edge of half-time Villa came forward on one of their only real attacks of the half as Robertson bizarrely kept the ball in play in his own box giving the ball straight to McGinn who laid it back to Kamara who’s shot fell kindly to summer signing Johan Manzambi from close-range who scored his first goal for the club to put Unai Emery’s team 0-1 up at half-time, Spurs continued to look the better side in the second half and looked to have pulled one back through Mohammed Kudus in the 60th minute but the goal was ruled out for an offside in the build-up to suck the life straight out of the stadium. As if things couldn’t get any worse just a few minutes later Villa doubled the lead as Manzambi flicked the ball to Jackson who’s chest control was magical before firing a volley past Kinsky from just inside the box to make it 0-2, ten minutes later Villa killed the game as McGinn played the ball to Buendia outside the box who fired an absolute missile into the top corner to seal all three points for Emery’s side. Spurs pulled two back late on through Gallagher and Van Hecke but it was far too late as they succumbed to yet another defeat at home, where do Spurs go from here?

2. The perfect result to go into a three week international break with. I don’t think Villa could have asked for a better team to play today with Spurs in pretty similar form to themselves but despite probably not playing their best they still came away with a much needed win before the break, I thought they were really poor in the first half with Savinho rinsing Ruggeri every time Spurs came down the right but their new goalkeeper Zuzuki kept in the match making some superb saves to keep his side in the game. As the half went on I think Emery would have been more than pleased to go into half-time at 0-0 but a stupid decision from Robertson gave the ball straight to McGinn who found Kamara who definitely had a shot that was turned home by Manzambi to open the scoring, he was one of the standouts at the World Cup over the summer and I’m so excited to see what he brings to Villa this season under Unai Emery. The second half was quite similar to the first as Spurs were searching for the equaliser but Villa looked so dangerous on the counter and the second goal was sheer brilliance from Jackson who’s chest control took him away from Van Hecke before hitting the volley into the ground giving Kinsky little chance to save it, Jackson is a player I’ve always had a soft spot for despite criticism he’s got since landing in the league but I think he’s going to be brilliant signing for this Villa team this season. The third goal is another piece of magic this time from Buendia who hits a rocket from miles out to seal the game and all three points for Villa, he’s a player that can go under the radar at times but his quality is there for everyone to see in a Villa shirt. Overall I don’t think it was a vintage performance from Aston Villa but all that matters is the three points and that’s what Villa got today, what are their aspirations this season?

3. What is there left to say about this Spurs team? I was quite big on this side heading into this season with the signings they’ve made(bar Marmoush) but they just keep on disappointing game after game, I actually thought they played really well in the first half but you have to turn that pressure into goals and with a frontline of Marmoush, Solanke and Savinho you simply can’t trust any of them to get the job done. I thought Savinho played quite well in the first half but he had to score with those chances in the box but he’s just never been reliable in front of goal, Solanke and Marmoush on the other hand were appalling once again and offered nothing all game giving the ball away over and over then disappearing when their team needs a goal, just not good enough. Mohammed Kudus came on for Mateus Fernandes at half-time and I thought he was actually Spurs’ best player in the second half and was unlucky to have his goal ruled out for offside, Fernandes was yet again played in the 10 in the first half which quite clearly isn’t his position but De Zerbi keeps playing him there which is so bizarre to me. Defensively the second half was disastrous with Van de Ven and Van Hecke all over the place at the back letting Jackson win long ball after long ball which leads to the second goal which is so poor from Van Hecke’s point-of-view, on the ball he’s been brilliant so far but you simply have to do more defensively if you want to concede less goals. I don’t think any Spurs fans will care about the two goals at the end but at least it does mean that they are no longer goalless in the league, they now have to sit on this result for three weeks before heading to Old Trafford when we come back in October.

4. ‍Will Aston Villa’s rebuild be successful this season? With their first Premier League win under their belt I think Villa will go into this break with a brighter outlook than before this match, the summer was one of mass exodus at Villa Park with Watkins, Rogers, Tielemans, Konsa, Martinez and Digne all leaving the club but I think they’ve brought in really good replacements. I know it’s early but I think Manzambi is going to tear this league up when he gets fully match-fit along with Jackson who I think is another shrewd signing to replace Watkins, the wildcard signing is Ibrahim Mbaye from PSG who we’ve seen very little off so far but at only 18 years of age I wouldn’t expect him to be a certified starter in this team yet. I think the one miss over the summer was Alejandro Garnacho who’s barely played so far this season and plays in the same position as Mbaye who’s obviously going to play more considering he’s a permanent signing, I think that was probably more of a club signing than Emery as the Spaniard clearly doesn’t rate Garnacho so far. It’ll be interesting to see how the signings develop this season but I think it’s going to be an up and down season for Villa as they bed in, what do you think?

5. Where does this result leave both teams? With Villa’s first win of the season they move up to 15th in the league but that could drop with with teams below them still obviously to play this week, Spurs drop to 18th which could move to 20th if Coventry and Fulham win this weekend which would be pretty horrifying if your a Spurs fan. Lets hope we get more entertainment like this game for the rest of the weekend before the long break, I’ll have Roma vs Inter up later for anyone interested in that game. ‍