Soccer-Villa expose familiar flaws as Tottenham slump continues

Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - September 19, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur's James Maddison and Micky van de Ven look dejected after Aston Villa's Emiliano Buendia scores their third goal REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur's £300 million ⁠squad rebuild is showing little sign of reviving the club's fortunes after a 3-2 home defeat by Aston ⁠Villa left them winless after five Premier League games on Saturday.

While Villa celebrated their first league win of ‌the season, Tottenham were left staring at another familiar afternoon of frustration as the dark clouds that hung over the club last season returned despite a summer of lavish spending.

Roberto De Zerbi's team did finally get on the scoresheet, with late goals from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke, but they came ​only after a clinical Villa had taken a 3-0 lead.

Long-suffering Tottenham fans probably ⁠sensed trouble when Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki produced ⁠a string of saves early on, and the mood darkened further when Johan Manzambi struck in first-half stoppage time after an ⁠error ‌by Andy Robertson.

Tottenham were temporarily down to 10 men after Micky van de Ven suffered a facial injury and De Zerbi could not hide his frustration at the manner of the goal.

"My focus is why we concede the first goal ⁠with 10 players, just for one minute in that situation," the Italian ​said. "We can stay stronger, we can communicate ‌more and more and more, we can defend in a compact way."

Mohammed Kudus thought he had levelled after coming ⁠off the bench, but ​joy turned to despair as the effort was ruled out for offside in the build-up after a VAR check.

Any hopes of a comeback were then extinguished when Nicolas Jackson exposed Tottenham's defensive frailties to double Villa's lead before Emi Buendia's superb dipping strike made it 3-0 and sent ⁠home supporters streaming for the exits.

Tottenham have now won only three of ​their last 25 Premier League home games, losing 15 of them, and their two points from five matches represent their worst start to a league campaign since 2008 when Juande Ramos was sacked.

With an away trip to Manchester United after the international break, the pressure ⁠could soon start to ramp up on De Zerbi, who came in seven games from the end of last season and saved the club from relegation.

"Today I am very disappointed, very sad and very frustrated for the performance. We can't lose this game in this way, absolutely," he said.

The Italian also demanded more from striker Dominic Solanke, who again struggled to make an impact.

"We need ​more from him, for sure, but he's one of my players," De Zerbi said. "He needs ⁠to stay better, to feel better. The physical condition is not good enough. He's much better than this Dom Solanke."

For Villa, after ​a turbulent summer of arrivals and departures, there were finally signs that Unai ‌Emery's rebuilt side is beginning to settle.

"It's a relief. Leading up ​to the international break, you don't want to be in the bottom three," captain John McGinn said.

"The new players are buying into it, it takes time. It's not easy but it's rewarding."

(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 托特纳姆热刺对阵阿斯顿维拉 - 英国伦敦托特纳姆热刺球场 - 2026年9月19日 阿斯顿维拉的埃米利亚诺·布恩迪亚攻入第三球后，托特纳姆热刺的詹姆斯·麦迪逊和米奇·范德文显得十分沮丧。（路透社/迪伦·马丁内斯）

伦敦，9 月 19 日（路透社）——托特纳姆热刺队耗资 3 亿英镑重建球队的计划似乎并没有扭转俱乐部的颓势。周六，他们在主场以 2-3 负于阿斯顿维拉，五场英超联赛过后仍未尝胜绩。

阿斯顿维拉庆祝了本赛季的首场联赛胜利，而托特纳姆热刺则再次陷入了熟悉的沮丧之中，尽管夏季大手笔引援，但上赛季笼罩在俱乐部上空的阴云依然重现。

罗伯托·德泽尔比的球队最终还是取得了进球，康纳·加拉格尔和扬·保罗·范赫克在比赛尾声阶段各入一球，但这仅仅是在维拉队以 3-0 领先之后才实现的。

长期受苦的热刺球迷可能在维拉门将锡安·铃木开场不久就做出了一系列扑救时就感觉到了麻烦，而当安迪·罗伯逊出现失误，约翰·曼赞比在上半场补时阶段破门得分时，球迷的心情更是雪上加霜。

由于米奇·范德文面部受伤，托特纳姆热刺队一度只剩 10 人应战，德泽尔比对丢球的方式难掩沮丧之情。

“我的重点是，为什么我们在只有10名球员的情况下，仅仅一分钟就丢了第一个球，”这位意大利人说道。“我们可以保持更强的防守，我们可以加强沟通，我们可以采取更紧凑的防守方式。”

穆罕默德·库杜斯替补上场后以为自己扳平了比分，但VAR检查后发现，进球因越位被判无效，喜悦瞬间变成了绝望。

随后，尼古拉斯·杰克逊利用托特纳姆热刺的防守弱点，将维拉的领先优势扩大到两球，任何反扑的希望都破灭了。之后，埃米·布恩迪亚一记精彩的下坠射门将比分改写为 3-0，让球迷们纷纷离场。

托特纳姆热刺队在过去的 25 场英超主场比赛中只赢了 3 场，输掉了 15 场，五场比赛只积 2 分，这是自 2008 年胡安德·拉莫斯被解雇以来，他们联赛开局最糟糕的一次。

国际比赛日结束后，曼联将客场挑战曼联，德泽尔比的压力可能会很快加大。上赛季末，他替补出场7次，帮助球队保级成功。

“今天我对球队的表现感到非常失望、难过和沮丧。我们绝对不能以这种方式输掉这场比赛，”他说。

这位意大利教练还对前锋多米尼克·索兰克提出了更高的要求，但索兰克再次难以发挥作用。

“我们当然需要他拿出更好的表现，但他毕竟是我的球员之一，”德泽尔比说道。“他需要保持更好的状态，感觉更好。他的身体状况还不够好。他比现在的索兰克强多了。”

对于维拉来说，在经历了动荡的夏季人员流动之后，终于有迹象表明，乌奈·埃梅里重建的球队开始稳定下来。

“这真是松了一口气。在国际比赛日到来之前，你肯定不想排在积分榜倒数三名，”队长约翰·麦金说道。

“新玩家们正在逐渐接受这一点，这需要时间。这并不容易，但回报丰厚。”

（Martyn Herman报道，Toby Davis编辑）

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