Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 Aston Villa

Aston Villa’s seven-game unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

Morgan Rogers’ third goal of the season gave the visitors a deserved half-time lead in north London, with the playmaker netting from close range after 32 minutes.

Spurs, who’d failed to test Emi Martínez in the first half, went on the offensive after the break and equalised via Brennan Johnson.

Dominic Solanke took the game away from Unai Emery’s team with a quickfire double, bagging a four-minute brace to turn the clash in Tottenham’s favour before James Maddison curled in a stoppage time free-kick.

It was only the second defeat in ten league games this season for Villa, who return to Champions League action against Club Brugge on Wednesday.

The Villans, who were unchanged from their last top flight outing, had been victorious on their last two visits to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and they threatened in the opening minutes when Ollie Watkins was just unable to connect with Lucas Digne’s teasing cross.

Chances were at a premium in the first quarter of the match as both sides proved difficult to break down, with a dipping Rodrigo Bentancur effort that landed on top of the net the closest Spurs came to troubling Martínez.

It took until the 30^th minute for the first save of the match to be made, with Guglielmo Vicario scrambling Amadou Onana’s header behind for a corner after it had ricocheted off the post.

Villa capitalised from the resulting set piece to take the lead via Rogers. The attacker was in the right place to tap home from two yards out after Digne’s corner had made its way through a crowded near post area.

While the hosts were edging possession and territory, the away side were charging forward on the counter-attack and almost grabbed a second goal before the break.

A slick move ended with Rogers sliding a ball through to Watkins, who took a touch before firing a left-footed effort wide of Vicario’s far post.

Villa had held Tottenham at arm’s length in the first half, but they were breached just four minutes into the second when Johnson turned home Heung-Min Son’s low cross to level the scores.

Martínez, who won the Yashin Trophy earlier in the week, once again underlined his credentials as the best goalkeeper in the world soon after to keep out Solanke’s shot, with the momentum now firmly in Spurs’ favour.

John McGinn lashed a half-volley narrowly wide and substitute Diego Carlos turned an effort off target as the visitors sought to respond.

With just over 20 minutes left to play, Jhon Durán entered the fray to huge cheers from the travelling fans as he replaced Rogers.

However, it was the home support who were cheering when Solanke put them ahead in the 75^th minute, lifting the ball over a diving Martínez.

The striker quickly doubled his tally as Spurs pulled two goals clear, tapping home from Richarlison’s cross after the hosts launched a swift counter-attack.

Jaden Philogene, Boubacar Kamara and Leon Bailey were sent on as Villa attempted to forge a route back into the game, but things got worse for the away team when Maddison curled a free-kick past Martínez in stoppage time.