On September 19th, Tottenham Hotspur finally scored their first Premier League goals of the season.
Unfortunately, they conceded three goals before they did. You know, just to make things interesting.
Aston Villa arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium looking for their first league win of the campaign. They left with all three points, while Spurs were left wondering whether they had accidentally purchased a £300 million squad that didn’t come with an instruction manual.
Spurs started well…Which was apparently the problem
Tottenham actually DID look dangerous early on.
Savio came close twice, but Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki produced several excellent saves, and Spurs ended up spending much of the opening period camped around the Villa penalty area.
Tottenham even had 65% possession and 20 attempts on goal.
Normally, those numbers suggest you’re doing something right.
For Spurs, those numbers apparently suggested, “Please continue doing exactly this until something goes horribly wrong.”
And naturally, because it was Spurs, something did.
Villa land the first punch
Just before half-time, Tottenham’s defence decided to temporarily leave the building.
Micky Van De Ven had gone off for treatment after taking a nasty blow to the face, leaving Spurs temporarily down to ten men.
Villa took advantage of this.
Johan Manzambi finished from Boubacar Kamara’s cross in first-half stoppage time, providing Villa with a 1-0 lead.
Tottenham had dominated much of the half.
They had created chances.
They had the ball.
They had the momentum.
But they also had the thing that matters slightly more in football:
No goals.
And Villa had one.
Football is such a cruel sport.
And then Nicolas Jackson happened
Spurs came out for the second half needing a response.
Instead, they received more problems.
Tottenham briefly thought they had finally ended their four-game Premier League scoring drought when Mohammed Kudus put the ball into the net.
Unfortunately, VAR had other plans.
It was offside.
No goal.
By now, Tottenham fans probably started wondering whether scoring had been removed from the Premier League rulebook.
Then, in the 67th minute, Nicolas Jackson doubled Villa’s advantage, and he did so by brilliantly turning away from Van De Ven before calmly finding the bottom corner.
2-0.
After this, the thoughts of the Tottenham attackers quickly went from “When will we score?” to “Does anybody know where the nearest fire exit is?”
Buendía adds the punchline
If there was still any hope of a Tottenham comeback, Emi Buendía decided to put that hope to bed.
In the 79th minute, Buendía picked up the ball around 25 yards from goal and produced a beautiful curling finish into the top corner.
3-0 Villa. And it was a magnificent goal.
It was also the sort of goal that makes a manager stare into the distance and reconsider every career decision that brought him to this exact game.
Villa fans celebrated.
Tottenham fans booed.
And certain visiting supporters began singing the extremely encouraging chant:
“You’re getting sacked in the morning!”
It was a truly lovely atmosphere. And I’m sure Roberto De Zerbi had plenty of opinions on it.
Then Spurs finally remembered how to score
Then, with four minutes of normal time remaining, Tottenham finally got on the board with their first Premier League goal of the season.
Conor Gallagher, who had only just come off the bench, finished from close range after some nice work involving Mohammed Kudus.
3-1.
The crowd celebrated.
Tottenham had officially gotten the ball past the goal line!
After four consecutive Premier League matches without finding the net, Spurs had finally broken the drought.
There was only one problem.
They were still losing 3-1.
But still, progress is progress!
Suddenly, Spurs became prime Barcelona
Tottenham then discovered an astonishing new tactical innovation:
Scoring goals before the referee blows the final whistle.
Jan Paul Van Hecke rose brilliantly in stoppage time to head home from Andy Robertson’s free-kick.
3-2.
Suddenly, the stadium was alive.
And Spurs were throwing everything forward.
James Maddison nearly found the net from a free-kick. Mohammed Kudus blasted the rebound over the bar. Van De Ven headed narrowly wide.
For approximately five minutes, Tottenham looked like a team that had just remembered they were supposed to win football matches.
Unfortunately, they remembered that too late.
The final whistle arrived.
Villa won 3-2.
Tottenham’s dramatic late comeback attempt had lasted about as long as a Tottenham fan’s optimism.
The bigger problem
The defeat left Spurs winless after five Premier League matches, with just two points and a -6 goal difference.
It was also their worst-ever start to a Premier League season after five games, surpassing their previous low from 2008-09.
That’s particularly painful considering how much Tottenham spent rebuilding the squad during the summer.
Spurs have invested heavily.
They’ve brought in new players.
They’ve got Roberto De Zerbi in charge.
And yet, somehow, the football universe has decided:
“Nah. Let’s make them suffer anyway.”
The late goals from Gallagher and Van Hecke at least provided a little encouragement. But they also highlighted the problem: Tottenham didn’t really start fighting until they were three goals down.
And that’s not exactly an ideal long-term strategy in England.
Final thoughts
Aston Villa deserve enormous credit. Zion Suzuki was excellent in goal, Jackson was dangerous, and Buendías goal was stellar. Villa also showed the ruthlessness Tottenham desperately lacked.
For Spurs, though, this was just another afternoon of frustration.
They played well early.
They created chances.
They had more possession.
They hit the post—or came close.
They finally scored. Twice.
And yet, somehow they still lost.
But that’s Tottenham Hotspur football in 2026:
Give the fans hope, remove the hope, briefly return the hope, then violently throw the hope into the fire.
The international break probably arrived at exactly the right time for this Spurs team.
Tottenham now have a few more weeks to figure it all out.
Or, conversely, they’ll come back from the break and lose 1-0 after dominating with 70% possession.
Oh well, at least they’ve got some goals now.
Small victories, people. Small victories.
Leave a Reply