Tottenham Hotspur slammed for not taking their chances in 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa
It was a miserable return from the international break for Tottenham Hotspur as they went down 2-1 to Aston Villa at home on Sunday.
Aston Villa scripted a second-half comeback as goals from Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia cancelled out Rodrigo Bentancur’s early strike. It was a much-anticipated game for the Tottenham Hotspur faithful, given how they have been playing in the Premier League since Thomas Frank was appointed as the boss in June.
Thomas Frank was hit with some bad news pre-match, as Cristian Romero suffered a minor abductor injury in the warm up and had to be replaced by Kevin Danso. Tottenham badly missed Romero’s presence, along with Destiny Udogie, who was unavailable after suffering with a ‘minor irritation’ in his knee upon his return from international duty.
So, Spurs were not at full strength defensively and conceded two goals. In contrast, though, they were pretty much full strength in attack and failed to score the second goal with the chances that were presented.
Tottenham Hotspur slammed for not taking their chances in 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.
Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa
Ex-England goalkeeper speaks on Tottenham’s lack of ruthless finishing in defeat to Aston Villa
Mathys Tel struggled in the No.9 role before being substituted, and he wasn’t the only one. Richarlison came off the bench and added nothing in attack, while Randal Kolo Muani missed a chance on his return from injury. Mohammed Kudus, who has been excellent for Tottenham since joining from West Ham this summer, overcomplicated things and lost possession several times in promising areas of the pitch.
Former England goalkeeper Rob Green highlighted the Lilywhites’ lack of efficiency in front of goal when they were right on top of the game. This eventually came back to bite them, with Buendia scoring a great goal from outside the box to win the points for Villa.
“Three goals of wonderful quality and brilliant ability. Tottenham will be kicking themselves. They had a lot of moments of real ascendancy in the game and didn’t take it,” Rob Green said on BBC Radio 5 Live (h/t BBC Sport).
Tottenham Hotspur slammed for not taking their chances in 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa.
Thomas Frank has to sort out Tottenham’s problems in front of goal
Tottenham have to find goals
Tottenham have been blunt going forward for weeks now. Solanke has barely played this season due to injury, so he cannot be blamed here. After a bright start, Richarlison has faded and made it apparent that he should not be relied upon for regular supply of goals. The Villa game marked Kolo Muani’s Premier League debut, and while he fluffed a chance in the box, the Frenchman’s rustiness was down to him spending almost a month on the sidelines due to a dead leg.
The north Londoners have to find goals from midfield and wingers as the strikers are proving incapable of putting the ball in the back of the net. Xavi Simons has to step up his game, while French duo Wilson Odobert and Mathys Tel have to bring consistency to their play. Even if Brennan Johnson has lost his starting berth under Frank, he must show more appetite to prove his gaffer wrong when he comes off the bench.
Unless and until Frank sorts out the problems in front of goal, Spurs are going to endure such frustrating results.