From leading at half-time to losing the game 4-1, Aston Villa had a game to forget at Tottenham.
Unai Emery has got a lot of praise for the work he has been doing at Villa, but the second-half performance in the capital was one of his worst yet.
It was Emery’s 53rd birthday on Sunday and it’s one he will want to forget about as quickly as possible because that was a defensive capitulation.
In midweek, Aston Villa were beaten by Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup, but a host of changes were made for that match, including several key players being rested.
From striker Ollie Watkins to midfielder Amadou Onana, none of them made the matchday squad, so from that sense, you would have expected them to be refreshed.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring for Villa after a corner, but from open play, there wasn’t much to shout about and only very few players can hold their heads up high.
Amadou Onana praised during Aston Villa’s defeat to Tottenham
There was a lot of noise when Villa signed Onana from Everton this summer and, for large parts, he has faired well.
But the defensive-minded midfielder has also been subbed off on several occasions at half-time.
That didn’t happen against Spurs, with Alan Smith stating that he was ‘excellent’ with his defensive work in the middle of the park.
The former striker also highlighted how Onana’s Villa teammates ‘must love him’ because of the work he gets through, as posted by BBC Sport.
“Onana has been excellent in this first half,” said Smith. “His defenders must love him with the work he’s got through.”
Onana’s stats for Villa against Tottenham
There is now pressure on Onana’s position in the midfield because you have players waiting in the wings to start.
Boubacar Kamara has returned to action for Villa and now that he is getting his engine warm after his long-term injury, you wonder how long it will be before he is a regular starter.
In the meantime, Onana was handed a rating of 6.77 by WhoScored for his showing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
| Total tackles | Interceptions | Clearances | Key passes | PA% | Aerials won | Touches | Rating |
| 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 97.1 | 2 | 55 | 6.77 |
