Aston Villa Add to Spurs’ Woes with 2-0 Win

Tottenham put on another concerning showing for their home fans as they were deservedly beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa on New Year day..

After another slow start, Emiliano Buendia tapped home shortly after the break but, unlike in previous weeks, conceding did not spark Spurs into life and Douglas Luiz put them to the sword with a nice finish to seal the victory.

The first chance fell to Ollie Watkins. The Villa striker beat the offside trap and cut inside, but he dragged his effort well wide of the goal when he really should have at least tested Hugo Lloris.

Moments later, Matt Doherty went down the other end and weaved his way into the box, but a last-ditch challenge from Boubacar Kamara prevented a clear sight of the Villa goal.

After 20 minutes of both sides threatening to offer some entertainment, Ivan Perisic got in behind and tried to get around Robin Olsen before crossing in towards Harry Kane, whose header was flicked away by a desperate lunge by Ashley Young.

Spurs were the better side as the first half drew to a close but the first 45 minutes of Premier League action in 2023 could easily be some of the worst we see all year.

Just five minutes into the second half, there was some fun as Villa took the lead.

A long strike from Luiz was spilled at the feet of Watkins, whose cut-back to Buendia was happily finished off – the tenth game in a row in which Spurs have conceded first.

Ivan Perisic missed a great chance to level the scoreline soon after but he couldn’t keep his lunging effort down.

A series of quick passes gifted a half-chance to Kane but the isolated striker had to contort his body for a volley which never looked like threatening Olsen.

With 17 minutes to go, Luiz hammered the nail into Spurs’ coffin. A glorious one-two with John McGinn put the Brazilian through on goal and he happily dinked the ball past Lloris to seal the three points.

As the clock ticked on, it never looked like Spurs would get back into it and there are yet more questions for Antonio Conte to answer.