Still no home win since opening weekend, but Spurs boss sanguine about his side's latest setback

Words from the boss : Picture by @YTJourno

Thomas Frank remained defiant in the face of Tottenham Hotspur’s latest attempt to reverse a poor home record so far this season.

Spurs were undone by a vibrant Aston Villa, who scored a couple of outstanding goals from Morgan Rodgers and Emil Buendia in a 2-1 victory in north London.

Frank’s side have not won at home in the Premier League since August 16, when they beat Burnley. Villa, meanwhile, join Bournemouth in having taken all three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Unai Emery’s side were hugely impressive in a composed display, mined with character and excellent finishing, particularly in the latter stages.

Yet, despite Frank accentuating the positive, the reality is that Tottenham were reduced to a series of long throws and an overall scruffy appearance, as they tried to find an equaliser to no avail.

Spurs made a great start under the capital drizzle, scoring in the fifth minute from Rodrigo Bentancur who netted via a deflection off Amadou Onana, after an initial good cross from the left by Mohammed Kudus.

Rogers’ dipping shot over home goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario brought Villa level before half time, while Buendia finished the contest with 13 minutes to go, a well-placed shot from a sumptious, sweeping team move.

“It was a very even game, set up against a good team by Unai” said Spurs’ head coach Frank. “Villa have been a very good team for a couple of years and we dominated for long spells. We were good with high pressure.

“We had good opportunities and defensively I think we were excellent. But in the little moments they had more quality on the day. Villa defended well”.

Frank remains unperturbed at the difference in his team’s home and away displays. Tottenham, sixth in the table, have impressed on the road, winning at Leeds United, West Ham and Manchester City.

“It is about looking at the performances”, noted Frank. “We could easily have won it instead of Villa. We would have loved a 3-0 win, it didn’t happen, but it looked quite good. We lost because of two quality moments”.

Of more concern to the club’s fans should be Tottenham’s second half lethargy. Their sense of urgency was not epitomised in controlled zest and an ability to split the visitors open. Essentially, Spurs’ afternoon was clouded by a lack of conviction in the final third when it was badly needed.

Villa took advantage of the hosts’ uncertainty, and their winner, from Buendia was even better than that by Rogers earlier. Two fantastic goals, the like of which Emery’s outfit will find hard to equal across the rest of the season. Sheer class at important moments.

“We added positive energy after a poor start”, said former Arsenal boss Emery. “There is still work to do. We performed fantastic with players in different positions. I thought we competed today fantastic. When we have more players to choose from it is better for a coach.

“Today (Ollie) Watkins played fantastic for 30 minutes. I thought ‘wow’. The goals were quality.”

Tottenham now travel to Monaco on Champions League duty on Wednesday night, before facing Everton next Sunday. According to form thus far, fans will agree there is a much greater chance of the Londoners grabbing victory on Merseyside, instead of a repeat of this sticky showing.