Tottenham’s season took a blow after their defeat against Aston Villa, but Thomas Frank couldn’t help but marvel at the performance of one player against his side.
Spurs lost 2-1 on Saturday afternoon despite taking the lead in the fifth minute through Rodrigo Bentancur, with goals from Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia completing the turnaround.
Rogers slammed a superb strike beyond Guglielmo Vicario for the equaliser before Buendia jinked inside and fired into the bottom corner to stun the hosts on 77 minutes.
However, Thomas Frank insisted post-match that he was satisfied with his side’s performance, believing they were only undone by two moments of magic.
Thomas Frank praises Morgan Rogers’ goal
Morgan Rogers scored 14 goals last season but started the new campaign poorly despite being linked to several ‘Big Six’ Premier League clubs during the summer.
But he had netted for England against Wales during the international break and finally ended his Aston Villa drought with a sumptuous, confidence-boosting effort.
Frank admitted he was also impressed with the goal, saying: “If you said to me before the game, ‘they will shoot from there, Rogers and Buendia’, from that situation, I would say, ‘of course, it’s not dangerous’, but fantastic quality shot from Rogers.
“In those very little moments, they had more quality in the end.”
According to Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham are among Rogers’ admirers, and they are even said to have begun exploring moving for him after making him a dream target.
Unsurprisingly, Villa are desperate to keep Rogers, and there is a belief among figures in football that a deal for the 23-year-old would currently be ‘almost impossible’.
Unai Emery on Morgan Rogers’ performance
Rogers looked back to his scintillating best against Spurs and deservedly scored his first Villa goal in 20 games across all competitions after a testing couple of months.
Boss Unai Emery was always confident his big moment would eventually arrive at club level, and he believes it was a testament to his tireless efforts across the pitch.
“Morgan is playing and scoring, but he’s helping the team for 90 minutes,” Emery said. “He has that capacity. He was always doing his task. He’s a hard worker. When you work, you show your skill.
“[Ollie] Watkins didn’t score or assist, but he played fantastic for 30 minutes. They are both very important for us.”