Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa: Player Ratings and Match Report As Rogers Stars

Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa: Live Match Report and Player Ratings

Two months had passed since Spurs last won at home as they took on Villa, a team who had scored only a single Premier League goal away from home this season. Tottenham’s fast start was eventually muted by two unbelievable strikes from the Villans. Flipping the script on what was set to be a dull game on paper.

After Rodrigo Bentancur had opened the scoring within five minutes of kick-off, Aston Villa slowly crept into the game. However, it took over half an hour for the away side to equalise via a special spinning strike from Morgan Rogers. Emiliano Buendia’s sublime second-half effort stole all three points for the visitors, making it three goals in four games for the Argentinian.

Spurs' Winless Spell at Home Continues

It was evident that Spurs were desperately in search of a first home victory in two months by the way they started the game. Within five minutes, Mathys Tel was seen rapidly closing down Ezri Konsa and Andre Onana; the pair's relaxed possession at the back was caught out by the ex-Bayern man, who managed to force the first corner of the match.

The Spurs' set piece was underwhelming and easily dealt with by Villa; however, the clearance handed the possession straight back to Tottenham. The hosts quickly looked to attack Emi Martinez’s net once again. Kudus played a magnificent cross directly to Joao Palinha at the back post. The Portuguese international’s header sent the ball straight back into the centre of the box, allowing Rodrigo Bentancur to slam home his first goal of 2025 from point-blank range via a deflection of Onana’s head.

N17 erupted into delirium; only four of Spurs’ 13 Premier League goals had come at home before today. Such an early goal was a shock to the Lilywhite faithful, and it had arrived from an unexpected scorer.

Morgan Rogers really hit Thierry Henry's iconic corner flag celebration after scoring a stunner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 💀 pic.twitter.com/P27e9O1K0F

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 19, 2025

Tottenham continued to find early momentum. Mohammed Kudus thought he’d scored Spurs’ second, after Micky van de Ven’s cross-field ball found the Ghanaian international on the left wing. Kudus’s dribbling ability was too much for Lucas Digne as he surpassed the Frenchman and slotted it home. The assistant referee’s flag was quickly raised as replays showed the Spurs player unquestionably offside.

After an exhilarating opening 10, the game would quieten down as Villa attempted to find a footing in this game. Van de Ven was handed the first yellow card of the game in the 22nd minute for a slicing challenge on Morgan Rogers that missed the ball completely.

Tel, Kudus, Xavi Simons, and Wilson Odobert caused mayhem throughout the first half, as they consistently interchanged their positioning, drifting between the wings, which confused the Villa defence as it felt like there was no recognised centre forward.

Odobert had his first chance of the game in the 27th minute, a menacing shot that curled towards the bottom right corner. Five minutes later, the first injury break of the match occurred, with Onana on the floor in pain due to landing badly after Palinha flew in with a ball-winning but powerful challenge.

The Villans' most promising spell of the first half arrived after 35 minutes of play, two attempted crosses flew into the box from Digne on the left flank, but neither produced any promise, yet…

After 37 minutes, Aston Villa finally drew the game level with a moment of individual brilliance from Morgan Rogers. His first Premier League goal since he scored against Nottingham Forest in April.

Xavi Simons and Mohamed Kudus vs Tottenham:

0 Goals/Assists
0/7 Dribbles
21 Duels Lost
25 Possessions Lost
Dribbled Past 3x

ALIBABA OLISE AND EZE 🥶🥶🥶 pic.twitter.com/Cm8eFKiNsx

— Hater Central (@TheHateCentral) October 19, 2025

Brimming with confidence after his international goal against Wales, Rogers side-stepped past Simons before releasing a hurtling strike over an off-guard Vicario and into the net from 20 yards out.

Spurs fought back after their lead was nullified. Tel had an almost unmissable chance to score, but he failed to connect with the ball as he leapt towards it. Van de Ven would also receive a late chance in stoppage time, but his header bounced straight over the bar.

A thrilling first 45 set up an intriguing competition after the interval. Early penalty shouts from Villa fans were waved away by Simon Hooper, despite Digne’s need for injury treatment as a result of the clash.

Kevin Danso had replaced Cristian Romero in the Spurs line-up after the team captain was forced to pull out due to the injury he picked up in the warm-up. The Austrian central defender proved to be one of Tottenham’s biggest threats in the second half due to the danger that arose from his long throws.

This club can no longer justify charging fans 70 -80 quid to keep serving up this.

It’s been years of shit from the club.

Paying huge amounts to watch the likes of Tel, Odobert and Richarlison is a piss take

— Sussex Tottenham (@SussexTottenham) October 19, 2025

In the 53rd minute, one of Danso’s long throws provided an excellent chance for the hosts, but Odobert’s strike was blocked by Konsa’s arm. VAR checked for handball, but no penalty was given as it was deemed that the England international’s arms were tucked into his body.

Just a minute later, Martinez was called into action as Spurs continued their attacking onslaught. Argentina’s number one produced a diving save to tip a powerful Palinha strike past the right post and out for a corner.

As a result of that corner, which was played short, Spence would play a deep cross to Bentancur, who headed the ball straight at Martinez’s feet. Despite it eventually being called offside, it was still another impressive save from Villa’s keeper.

After some intense Tottenham pressure, Villa hit back with Donyell Malen. The Dutchman outdid his international teammate, van de Ven, in a running race, but his shot crashed into the side netting. Malen’s chance meant that there had been four shots after just 12 minutes of second-half action, compared to the six in the first 45. This game was far from over.

The first substitutions of the game happened in the 60th minute, Richarlison replaced Tel, Buendia replaced Guessand, and Watkins replaced Malen. The introduction of Buendia and Watkins would prove to be a game-changing move from Unai Emery, as 15 minutes later, it was the miniature Argentinian that scored what appeared to be the game-winning goal.

Wins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this month:

1 — Denver Broncos
1 — Minnesota Vikings
0 — Tottenham pic.twitter.com/3TocuKjPb1

— StatMuse FC (@statmusefc) October 19, 2025

In a similar fashion to Spurs’ opener, an underwhelming corner was cleared by the opposition defence. Aston Villa recycled the ball urgently and eventually found Buendia on the right-hand side of the pitch. The substitute then drifted into the centre of the field before releasing a sailing effort into the bottom left corner.

Villa had only scored one away goal in the Premier League before this game, but had managed to hit two screamers in North London against a team that had only lost once this season.

Emery’s job had appeared to be under threat a handful of games into the 2025/26 campaign, but the final 15 minutes proved that the ship had been steadied in Birmingham. The Villans dealt with the late Spurs pressure professionally to see out a monumental victory that hauled the club into the top half of the Premier League table.

As for Spurs, today's loss made it three wins from 18 Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The billion-pound ground may deliver delight to the thousands that flock to the site for concerts, but for Tottenham Hotspur, it has become quite the frightful field to play on.

Tottenham Player Ratings

GK - Guglielmo Vicario - 3/10

Vicario displayed poor positioning for Villa's opening strike, as Rogers caught hime completely off guard. On top of that, the Italian didn't manage a single save across the full 90. The less said about his performance the better.

RB - Pedro Porro - 5/10

Porro was promising going forward, and created chances for Spurs as he so often does, but his failures in defence contributed to Spurs' loss this afternoon.

CB - Kevin Danso - 6/10

Danso had a busy afternoon whether he was passing or throwing the ball into the box. The Austrian did well after receiving his call up to the starting eleven with such short notice.

CB - Micky Van de Ven - 4/10

The temporary captain looked shaky today and struggled to deal with Aston Villa's attacks.

LB - Djed Spence - 5/10

Similiarly to his fellow full-back, Spence showed quality in his passing game and going forward, but was let down by his actions in defence.

DM - Rodrigo Bentancur - 7/10

Bentancur's score is certainly boosted by his attacking instinct to sniff out an early goal, however he had little impact further than that.

DM - Joao Palhinha - 7/10

Palinha did well to find himself on the end of Kudus' cross in order to assist his midfield partner, and also made multiple excellent tackles in the middle of the park.

AM - Xavi Simons - 6/10

Still yet to score in a Spurs shirt, Simons covers the pitch well and provides strong link up play, but continues to have little impact in front of goal.

RW - Mohammed Kudus - 6/10

The handful of crosses that Kudus made were all threatening, however the Ghanaian played the entire game and went relatively under the radar when it came to chances in the box.

LW - Wilson Odobert - 5/10

Despite playing 79 minutes, Odobert had minimal impact in this game, other than his single promising chance in the first half.

ST - Mathys Tel - 5/10

Tel really should have scored in the hour that he was on the pitch, missing an extremely promising chance at the back post in the first half.

Sub 1 - Richarlison - 4/10

Richarlison was brought on in an attempt to revolutionise Spurs' attack, but failed to be a game changer.

Sub 2 - Lucas Bergvall - 6/10

Bergvalll certainly would've had a greater score in this game had he been on the pitch from the beginning. The Swede hardly put a foot wrong in the 10 minutes he played.

Sub 3 - Randal Kolo Muani - 5/10

A special day for Kolo Muani as he made his Premier League debut, however the French forward clearly has some work to do if he is to get up to speed with the league.

Sub 4 - Pape Matar Sarr - N/A

Only managed a single touch in the few minutes that he played.

Sub 5 - Brennan Johnson - N/A

Was not on the pitch long enough to motivate a losing side, however he did manage to have a single promising shot right at the end.

Aston Villa Player Ratings

GK - Emi Martinez - 7/10

Despite conceding, Martinez made a few strong saves, especially in the second half, to ensure that Villa did not concede more than one. There was also little he could do for Bentancur's opener after the close range effort deflected in off Onana.

RB - Matty Cash - 7/10

Both of Villa's fullbacks deserve their praise in this match. Cash was not only strong at the back, but also had multiple attempts going forward.

CB - Ezri Konsa - 5/10

Konsa succumbed to early pressure, which caused the corner that in turn resulted in Spurs' goal. However, Konsa recovered from a shaky start, dealing with anything thrown at him.

CB - Pau Torres - 6/10

Torres was handed little to do as the game progressed, however the Spaniard popped up with multiple clearances and tackles to keep Spurs at bay.

LB - Lucas Digne - 8/10

Picking up his second assist the season with a masterful flick to play in Emi Buendia. Digne has continued to prove how valuable he is when it comes to chance creation from the left flank.

DM - Amadou Onana - 5/10

Onana was another culprit who struggled to handle Spurs' early pressure, his clearance from the first corner of the game handed the ball straight back to Spurs as well, which resulted in the opener being scored.

DM - Boubacar Kamara - 8/10

The Frenchman was everywhere in this match, whether it was pinging passes or winning his challenges. Without Kamara, Villa's midfield would have struggled to run anywhere near as smoothly.

AM - Morgan Rogers - 8/10

Rogers dragged Villa back into this game almost by himself with a memorable strike that will stay with the 23-year-old for years to come.

RW - Evann Guessand - 4/10

Another quiet game from Villa's statement signing from this summer, who has struggled to adapt to the Premier League thus far. His performacne resulted in an early second half substitution.

LW - John McGinn - 6/10

McGinn may have had the least touches of any outfield player who played 90 minutes, but Villa's captain led the team to victory from all areas of the pitch.

ST - Donyell Malen - 5/10

Malen was handed his chance to shine with Watkins an injury concern, but the Dutchman couldn't replicate the form he displayed against Burnley two weeks ago. It speaks volumes that Villa stepped up their attacking game after Watkins was introduced to the pitch to replace Malen.

Sub 1 - Emiliano Buendia - 8/10

At one point, it looked like the Argentinian's career at Aston Villa was completely finished, but he has bounced back from injury to show the class he once promised at Norwich. Today's performance proves just how much of an asset Buendia is to the Villans.

Sub 2 - Ollie Watkins - 6/10

Watkins' poor goal scoring form continued, but that did not stop the England international from having an impact off the bench. Linking up with his fellow Villa attackers to cause havoc.

Sub 3 - Ian Maatsen - 5/10

The Dutch youngster was not on the pitch for long another to cause much of a stir. However, he did make efforts going forward, although his late attempt on goal in the 87th minute was certainly forgettable.

Sub 4 - Ross Barkley - 5/10

Another man whose introduction had little impact. The biggest complement that can be paid to Barkley in this game, is that he ensured that Villa maintained their lead after his introduction not long after his side went in front.

Man Of The Match - Morgan Rogers

Fresh off the back of scoring his first ever senior England goal. It has been a brilliant few weeks for Rogers as his goal was a turning point in this game. The advanced midfielder's performance was full of life and attacking threat, scoring a goal that will be replayed again and again for the remainder of the season

Tough Day At Work - Guglielmo Vicario

It may be a cop out to target the losing goalkeeper in this game, but Vicario didn't do himself any favours. Aston Villa only had two shots on target this match, and neither were from a close or dangerous range. The Italian failed to produce a save from either and will hope for a quick turnaround in form ahead of a UCL clash with Monaco on Wednesday.