Aston Villa (Home) 10.01.2026

Bogarde went right over Xavi Simons giving him a painful knee in the back, Xavi slid into Cash (shame !) and then Kamara pushed the ball too far and Joao Palhinha stuck a leg across him to prevent his progress over halfway.  Villa put the ball out of play and the midfielder had to be subbed in the ninth minute, fully four minutes after the ball went out – three of which were with the play being stopped.  A minute later Malen tried a long range shot that Villa are noted for but it was sliced well wide.  Spurs responded with Vicario releasing Mathys Tel with a quick throw-out, but he had to turn back having no support and after the ball was lost, Ben Davies won it high in the Villa half.  It ran to Wilson Odobert, who shot straight into the keeper’s chest from ten yards the box in the 13th minute.  At this stage of the game, Spurs were getting after the opponent on the ball and winning a fair share of the ball.

Archie Gray played a diagonal pass out to the left where Ben made a run behind the defence and his volley back towards goal was cleared away.  Davies was then winning a tackle on McGinn in the centre circle, sparking a move that Pedro Porro volleyed across the box, where Mathys struck a volley of his own which sliced across the box once more.  Even in the first 20 minutes, the referee appeared to be penalising Tottenham for fouls he let Villa get away with.   He did give a free-kick for handball against Konsa in the Spurs box and Davies just failed to put enough weight on it when he took it quickly trying to find Richarlison, who had made a run through the middle.

When luck isn’t with you, Villa scored from the possession they got from the failed free-kick.  McGinn played the ball into Malen’s feet inside the D and he turned the ball with a reverse pass to his run to the right and Buendia had lost Archie, firing a shot into the net from the corner of the six-yard box over Vicario.

In the 25th minute, a short corner routine set up a shooting opportunity for Cash, who drilled the ball at goal and Vicario punched it out two-fisted at head height.  Things weren’t helped when Richi pulled up with what seemed to be a hamstring injury in the 27th minute when he chased a through ball.  After Randal Kolo Muani had belatedly replaced him, as Spurs did not have the sub prepared, Villa were finding it straightforward to move the ball forward, but couldn’t create much from it.  Spurs won a corner five minutes before half-time and when it came to the far post, Kevin Danso put his header over the top after winning it cleanly.  Villa made Spurs be cautious by leaving three men up-field, so we couldn’t put as many players in and around the box that we wanted.  However, Xavi made a run through three Villa players and threaded a pass through the square back-line for Kolo Muani, who dinked it over Bizot from ten yards out, but it was ruled out by the lineman’s offside flag, which couldn’t be questioned by VAR , although it appeared that the official was correct.

When Spurs played a free-kick short, Tel turned McGinn inside out before crossing into the box and Danso, still up for the set-piece ran in from the back of the box to meet it, but his side-foot went wide of the goal.  After McGinn had hit a weak curling shot that Vic took comfortably, Danso pumped the ball up-field to nobody in particular and the boos rang out from the South Stand.  There were more a minute later when Malen went into the box from the right having been gifted a lot of space, his ball into Buendia’s feet was laid off for Rogers to guide the ball wide of Vicario to his right to make it 2-0 in added time.

It was embarrassing that so called Spurs fans in the South Stand joined the 9,000 Villa supporters in singing “Sacked in the morning”.  If they aren’t willing to get behind the team and the manager during the game, then what don’t they understand about supporting the team.  Booing Thomas Frank when the ball went off the pitch to him doesn’t really do the club any favours, as who would want to sign for Tottenham with this sort of atmosphere ?

The second half started with Tielemens pulling Xavi back by the neck when he rana way from him, which the ref didn’t produce a yellow card for – an offence which our players often get booked for.  A long ball through for Malen brought Vicario out of goal, but his clearance was poor and went straight to Buendia on halfway, but his attempt to put the ball back over the Spurs keeper skewed away to the right and it was a let-off for Tottenham. 

Bizot had to make a save when a loose clearance fell to Simons outside the box and his shot was a good height for the keeper to dive to his left to push it wide.  From the corner, Porro crossed to the far post where Palhinha headed it back, but as the ball bounced up, Ben Davies couldn’t keep his effort down.  At least now the South Stand was getting some positivity going with a rousing chorus of “Come On You Spurs !”  And come on they did.  Bizot kicked the ball straight out from the goal-kick and from the throw, Villa got possession but Kolo Muani won the ball from Bogarde 40 yards from goal.  He ran the ball forward to 25 yards out, then slipped the ball to Odobert on his right and he drilled a shot along the ground past the keeper’s right hand to find the bottom corner on the other side of the goal and put Spurs back into the match. 

54 minutes in and the home crowd were suddenly behind the Spurs side, with some good passes putting Mathys in on the left, using his quick feet to get a pass back inside between two defenders for Xavi to shoot for the far aide and bringing another save from the keeper.  Then Odobert’s cross to the far side of the box was just missed by Xavi, running in looking for a volley, with Wilson almost catching Bizot out at his near post with another low cross.  Archie got a yellow card for a late one on Buendia, with Rogers straight into the referee’s face asking for a booking.

Wilson made the wrong choice with a run through the middle, with Tel and Simons to his left, he chose to shoot, but his low drive lacked enough power to beat the keeper.  Porro got past Buendia but was put off balance as he was pulled back and then got hit after he released the ball, but no free-kick awarded for that.  The referee failed to notice Watkins late kick at Palhinha’s ankles and then gave a free-kick when Buendia lost a tackle ro Simons, then he did book BUendia for pulling Archie Gray back (no different to Simons being tugged back int he first half), with Watkins in the ref’s ear trying not to allow the booking.  When Palhinha’s tackle on Rogers was given as a free-kick, the Villa man was straight up pushing Joao in the chest, which surprisingly ended with no yellow card for anyone !

More sloppy play by Bogarde on the corner of his box led to the ball running into Palhinha’s path and his shot was blocked before it reached the six-yard box by Torres.  However, Villa went closes to finding the net, with Cash’s run down the right pulling the ball back for Buendia from the dead-ball line.  He bumbled the ball over Vicario as the keeper went to ground, but Porro was covering on the goal-line to stop the ball going in.  van de Ven then blocked Watkins’ effort at close range, as Villa relived the pressure on their goal by attacking Spurs.  Yet again, another clear foul on Palhinha wasn’t given as Bogarde slid in on his ankles.

Spurs had another ball in the net in the 79th minute, with Kolo Muani playing Xavi through to round the keeper but he was offside and a mild questioning of the linesman’s decision (in comparison to every one that went against Villa) earned Porro a booking.  Xavi had the taste for the game and burst infield form the left only to be tumbled over by Garcia before Buendia pushed him to ground, with the first offender picking up a yellow card.  A fantastic block tackle by Palhinha on Rogers got a booking for the Spurs man thanks to the Villa men around the referee and Tielemens then put his head in on Joao behind the referee’s back.  Unaware if what was going on for most of the game, he pulled the game back for a foul by Scarlett, when Villa were in on goal.

Watkins swivelled on a ball in the box and Vicario was well behind it, saving it down on the ground, but he was stopped from releasing it by Torres, who jumped up and down in front of him – a bookable offence. but not for this ref.  He was also nowhere to be seen when Watkins celebrated in front of Palhinha and walked into him sparking a furious response that brought Villa players running from all over to try and incite the Portuguese midfielder into getting sent off.

Although Tottenham’s more energetic second half performance had caused Aston Villa to fail to manage their lead, in the last five minutes, they made their passes and kept the ball in Tottenham’s defensive third.  Added to their “injuries” and timewasting, the remaining time dwindled away to another home defeat for Tottenham.  

This game was not unlike the 1-2 defeat we suffered to Villa in the league here.  In the first half it was two shots and two goals, although this time both were from inside the box.  The space that Spurs ceded in the midfield allowed Villa to play first time passes to their players who were moving to be available, whereas Spurs were finding difficulty in stringing passes together as they were static and not pulling the opposition around.  Our passing is either last gasp, putting the receiver under pressure or only just able to reach it, thus the ball isn’t under control and then the next pass and the next pass are not even thought about, let alone completed.  There was extra difficulty as Villa get back into their defensive positions very quickly to get plenty of bodies between the ball and their goal.

Villa used the same tactic as Chelsea at our corners, pushing three players up to the half-way line, pressuring Tottenham to leave three men back.  However, this left a 40 yard expanse of turf with nobody in it. between the Villa penalty area and the halfway line.  Passively standing next to the Villa players, our players or at least one, could have made a run into that ocean of space to either receive the ball or pull one of the other side with them.  Whether the instructions they are given is to stay with their man or the players are not allowed to use their initiative, only they will know. 

The lack of movement kills our moves and from short throw-ins especially.  Making space for other players to allow the thrower to deliver to a man who isn’t marked is schoolboy stuff.  Without getting the basics right, the development of this side will be a way off yet, but let us not forget, that Villa have a couple of years on us in terms of their progress and are currently a form side in the Premier League.

• Tottenham wore a commemorative kit to mark the 125th anniversary of the 1901 FA Cup winning team – the only non-league side to win the FA Cup in the history of the competition.
• Spurs wore black armbands in memory of Martin Chivers and Terry Yorath, who both died in the week.