Tottenham Hotspur’s misery deepens as Manzambi, Jackson and Buendia fire Villa to first win

LONDON – The end to Tottenham Hotspur’s English Premier League goal drought came too late as Aston Villa won 3-2 in north London on Sept 19 to compound a miserable start for Roberto de Zerbi’s men.

Spurs remain without a league win this season and only netted their first goals of the campaign after the visitors had surged to a 3-0 lead.

Villa had also struggled for goals themselves since the side that won the Europa League last season was torn apart during the transfer window.

But new signings Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson struck either side of half-time to give Unai Emery’s new-look team their first league win before Emi Buendia’s wonder strike.

Even Tottenham’s first late consolation needed the aid of a Villa deflection when Conor Gallagher’s effort went in off Matty Cash before Jan Paul van Hecke headed home in stoppage time.

Spurs splashed out over £300 million (S$513 million) on new players to try and avoid a repeat of the battle for survival they endured last season.

Yet there remains little return on that investment.

In keeping with recent performances, Spurs started brightly before fizzling out.

Twice in a matter of seconds, Savinho was kept out by Zion Suzuki before the Japanese goalkeeper spread himself to turn behind Archie Gray’s powerful strike.

Villa had picked up just one point from their opening four league games but have missed their club record signing Manzambi for most of that period.

The Swiss international opened his Villa account when he tapped home Boubacar Kamara’s cross.

However, Tottenham will protest about new laws that force a player off the field for at least a minute after receiving treatment for an injury.

A head knock to centre-back Micky van de Ven left them a man down at the back when Manzambi swept home.

Spurs only had themselves to blame for the second goal as van Hecke failed to deal with a long ball straight down the middle.

Jackson did well to evade the Dutch defender and then fired down into the ground and past Antonin Kinsky.

The Czech goalkeeper was powerless to stop Villa’s third 11 minutes from time when Buendia took aim from long range and brilliantly picked out the top corner.

A chorus of boos greeted Buendia’s strike as thousands of home fans headed for an early exit.

But those that left missed finally have something to celebrate.

Fine persistence from Mohammed Kudus teed up Gallagher to find the bottom corner via the outstretched foot of Cash.

Van Hecke then bulleted in from Andy Robertson’s free-kick with virtually the last touch of the game.

Spurs now must stew on another defeat for a three-week international break while rooted in the relegation zone.

Villa, by contrast, will hope victory can prove the catalyst to storm up the table as they did last season.

Villa captain John McGinn said it was a relief to have finally ended their winless drought.

He told TNT Sports: “Leading up to the international break, you don’t want to be in the bottom three.

“I thought we were really poor first half, we showed nothing going forward, but the second half we stood tall and deserved the win.”

Spurs manager de Zerbi said: “Today I am very disappointed, very sad and very frustrated for the performance.

“We can’t lose this game in this way absolutely. We can’t concede that second goal. We can’t lose balance. The way we conceded the second goal was incredible.”

Former Spurs defender Michael Dawson, now a pundit on the Soccer Saturday show, said “it’s the same old story for Spurs”.

“If you don’t score when you’re on top, you’re always going to get punished,” he added. REUTERS