Game is over and the final score is Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa as De Zerbi's side still couldn't find their way to success.

2026/2027 Premier League

2-3

Match Report

Tottenham finally ended their wait for a Premier League goal this season, but it meant little as they slumped to a 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa.

Saturday's contest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw the two teams with the lowest cumulative expected goals (xG) totals in 2026-27 face off.

Villa came into it having only netted once in the top flight this term, but Unai Emery's team did beat Coventry City 3-1 in the EFL Cup in midweek.

Spurs, meanwhile, lost to Liverpool at Anfield in their midweek cup outing, and though they started brightly, Roberto De Zerbi's team slumped to a loss that could well see them head into the international break at the bottom of the pile.

Savio forced three saves out of Zion Suzuki early on, before Emiliano Buendia tested Antonin Kinsky at the other end.

Yet in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, Villa capitalised on Micky van de Ven having to go off temporarily after he received treatment on a cut below his eye.

Andy Robertson made a mess of an attempted clearance, with John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara combining to tee up Johan Manzambi for his first Premier League goal.

Half-time substitute Mohammed Kudus thought he had snapped Spurs' scoreless streak just before the hour, only for Robertson to have strayed offside in the build-up.

Manzambi then became just the second player to both score and assist on their first Premier League start for Villa, after Kevin Phillips against Bolton Wanderers in August 2005, when he flicked it on for Nicolas Jacskon in the 67th minute, with the former Chelsea striker beating Van de Ven and firing off a shot that Kinsky failed to keep out.

Buendia kept up his fine record against Spurs with a 79th-minute stunner, though Conor Gallagher finally opened the hosts' goal account when he nudged in from Kudus' cutback.

Spurs doubled up deep in stoppage time when Robertson crossed in for Jan Paul van Hecke to head home, but that was the final act of another disappointing day for De Zerbi's side.

50 - Tottenham Hotspur have lost 50 of their 141 Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as many defeats as Arsenal have suffered in 382 top-flight matches at the Emirates Stadium.

Gap. pic.twitter.com/M9bGo0HEPk

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 19, 2026

Spurs trip the perfect tonic for Villa

While Spurs have been under plenty of scrutiny following their transfer splurge this summer, Villa went into this game trailing their hosts in the table.

However, having withstood the early pressure, Villa really came into their own once Manzambi had marked his full debut in style.

They were clinical on the counter-attack in the second half, and Spurs' defence was found wanting for Jackson's strike, which was his first in the Premier League since April 2025, and his fifth overall in the competition against Tottenham.

Buendia then put the icing on the cake with a sublime finish from 25 yards out, which the Argentine sent swerving into the top-left corner.

He has scored in each of his last four games against Tottenham in all competitions, while four of his last six Premier League goals have been outside the box, with only Leeds United's Anton Stach (five) scoring more goals from distance since the beginning of last season.

Spurs finished the match with 1.22 xG to Villa's 1.16, though much of that came from the chances that Gallagher and Van Hecke took late on.

Their scoreless run may be over, but Spurs have now lost 50 of their 141 Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as many defeats as Arsenal have suffered in 382 top-flight matches at the Emirates Stadium.

Villa, meanwhile, have won five of their last seven Premier League away games against Spurs.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' Match Event for Tottenham vs Aston Villa


46' Match Event for Tottenham vs Aston Villa




49' GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Aston Villa (Johan Manzambi)



60' Match Event for Tottenham vs Aston Villa




66' GOAL! Tottenham 0-2 Aston Villa



79' GOAL! Tottenham 0-3 Aston Villa (Emiliano Buendía)



86' GOAL! Tottenham 1-3 Aston Villa (Conor Gallagher)



Line-ups

Tottenham XI: Robertson, Solanke, Bentancur, Omar Marmoush, Tonali, Porro, Jan Paul van Hecke, Van de Ven, Kinsky, Sávio, Mateus Fernandes

Subs: Dubravka, Adarabioyo, Maddison, Marcos Senesi, Gallagher, Mohammed Kudus, Udojie, Gray, Bergvall

Aston Villa XI: Lindelof, McGinn, Mings, Buendia, Kamara, Wan-Bissaka, Zion Suzuki, Matteo Ruggeri, João Gomes, Nicolas Jackson, Johan Manzambi

Subs: Barkley, Abraham, Matty Cash, Harwood-Bellis, Garnacho, Lamare Bogarde, James Wright, Mbaye, George Hemmings