2 Aston Villa: Highlights, man of the match, stats as Unai Emery beats Spurs in Premier League turnaround

Aston Villa picked up where they left off prior to the international break with a 2-1 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas Frank's side raced into an early lead courtesy of a finely worked move that culminated in Joao Palhinha heading the ball down for Rodrigo Bentancur to open the scoring with a half-volley five minutes into the encounter.

Spurs thought that they had doubled their lead just moments later when Mohammed Kudus finished past Emiliano Martinez, but it was ruled out for an offside.

However, that seemed to be a wake up call for Unai Emery's men, given that the Londoners failed to create any significant chances in the aftermath, and they were pegged back to 1-1 by Morgan Rogers, whose thunderous strike from outside the box left Guglielmo Vicario no hope.

In the second half, the hosts produced a number of opportunities leading up to the hour mark, when the visitors made attacking changes, bringing on Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia.

It was the latter who made the biggest impact on the clash, when he curled a low, precise strike into the bottom-left corner to complete his side's comeback and secure all three points.

SPORTS MOLE'S VERDICT

Spurs captain Cristian Romero was injured during the warmup, and was replaced by Kevin Danso at the last moment, leaving Micky van de Ven to take the armband.

The Londoners may have lost in his absence, but the defence surrendered few chances in the game, and were undone by two great strikes from Villa's only two shots on target.

In any case, Frank's side will be hoping that the Argentine centre-half is not out for an extended period given that they are now sixth in the table having won just one of their last four top-flight matches.

As for Villa, they started the season poorly, but came into this clash on the back of a five-game unbeaten streak that featured a run of four consecutive victories ahead of kick off.

Emery's men extended that run to five victories, and though his team were by no means dominant, the manager will be pleased that they were clinical, finding the back of the net twice from an expected goals tally of 0.37.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR VS. ASTON VILLA HIGHLIGHTS

Rodrigo Bentancur goal vs. Aston Villa (5th min, Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Aston Villa)

Kudus whips a deep cross towards the back post from the left flank, and Palhinha nods the ball back across the box for Bentancur to volley home from seven yards out.

Spurs take an early lead!

Morgan Rogers goal vs. Tottenham Hotspur (37th min, Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Aston Villa)

Rogers tries to play Matty Cash through, and though his pass is blocked by Xavi Simons, it bounces back to him 25 yards from goal, where he skips past the former RB Leipzig man and fires a powerful strike across Vicario from right to left, giving the goalkeeper no chance.

Emiliano Buendia goal vs. Tottenham Hotspur (77th min, Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Aston Villa)

Cash fires an excellent volleyed diagonal pass from the halfway line to Lucas Digne in a right-wing position, where the left-back produces an equally impressive touch to pluck the ball out of the sky before laying it off to Buendia.

The attacking midfielder then cuts inside and curls a precise low shot from the edge of the box into the bottom-left corner!

MAN OF THE MATCH - BOUBACAR KAMARA

Boubacar Kamara may not have been directly involved in the goals on Sunday, but he won the most duels of any player on the pitch (14) and was vital to the visitors' victory.

There has never been any doubt about the injury-prone midfielder's talent, and fans will be hoping that he can stay fit to deliver more performances like this in the future as one of Villa's most important players.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR VS. ASTON VILLA MATCH STATS

Possession: Tottenham Hotspur 53%-47% Aston Villa

Shots: Tottenham Hotspur 9-8 Aston Villa

Shots on target: Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Aston Villa

Corners:Â Tottenham Hotspur 6-6 Aston Villa

Fouls: Tottenham Hotspur 11-7 Aston Villa

BEST STATS

WHAT NEXT?

Up next for Spurs is a trip to face Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Villa will pay a visit to Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday.No Data Analysis info