[골닷컴] Correspondent Kang Dong-hun = Tottenham Hotspur, an English professional soccer team, showed a frustrating game management from the first game of the new year, and then fell to their knees following defeating Aston Villa. Son Heung-min struggled by throwing off his face protection mask as a starter, but might not create an attack point.
Tottenham lost 0-2 in the home game in the 18th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-2023 season once morest Aston Villa held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England at 11:00 pm (Korean time) on the 1st.
Tottenham, who lost that day, failed to win two games in a row and was pushed back to 5th place (9 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses, 30 points). With one more game played, the gap with 4th place Manchester United (32 points) widened to 2 points. Tottenham will challenge the atmosphere by leaving the Crystal Palace expedition on the 5th.
Earlier, Tottenham got off to a bad start with a 2-2 draw with Brentford in the first game following the restart of the season, which was suspended for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Because of this, we had to beat Aston Villa that day and change the atmosphere.
Antonio Conte (Italy) coach also said at a press conference, “Every member is working hard to improve the situation.” It is also important to put in,” he said, expressing his strong will to win.
Coach Conte came out with the same 3-4-3 formation. He just ran some rotations. At the forefront, Harry Kane and Brian Hill formed an attacking triangle, led by Son Heung-min. Ivan Perisic, Yves Bisuma, Pierre-Emile Hoivier, Clement Lenglet, and Christian Romero provided support fire.
As expected, Tottenham took the lead and played the game. Attacking the left and right flanks aggressively. However, it was not easy to create a shooting opportunity because Aston Villa completely lowered the line when defending and kept a close distance with six defensive numbers.
Rather, Aston Villa opened the door. In the 9th minute of the first half, Olly Watkins, who exquisitely pierced the offside line, broke through into the box and attempted a shot, but it missed slightly. Tottenham later reorganized the front line and launched a counterattack, but had difficulty in attacking.
Tottenham, who had been relentlessly attacking, seized the opportunity. In the 40th minute of the first half, Perisic, who dug into the back space, raised a cross, and Kane connected with a header, but Ashley Young cleared it in front of the goal. Four minutes later, Son Heung-min took a free kick near the left side of the box and fired a direct shot, but it was blocked by goalkeeper Robin Olsen. Tottenham finished the first half 0-0.
Aston Villa took the lead with a goal. In the 5th minute of the second half, Lloris failed to properly handle Douglas Ruiz’s powerful mid-range shot from outside the box, and Emiliano Buendia, rushing in from behind, calmly finished Watkins’ second ball and connected the pass.
With two goals needed to win, Conte made a change to the attacking side. In the 18th minute of the second half, Heel, who was sluggish, was removed and Ryan Sessegnon was put in. Along with this, Perisic was raised upwards. Manager Unai Emery was also replaced. In the 21st minute of the second half, Leon Bailey was replaced by Matty Cash.
Tottenham continued to take the initiative and released it, but it collapsed once more with a blow from Aston Villa. In the 29th minute of the second half, Louise, who received John McGinn’s penetrating pass, completely destroyed Lloris in a one-on-one chance, and the net fluctuated. In the remaining time following that, Tottenham mightn’t score a comeback goal, and eventually lost 0-2.