Harry Kane says Tottenham are aware of the standards they have to reach to be competitive this season after they suffered a scare before overcoming Aston Villa.

Despite the score, this was far from a straightforward victory for last season’s Champions League runners-up.

Tottenham were sluggish for long periods and were heading for defeat before turning the game on its head after substitute Christian Eriksen injected some much-needed creativity to the team.

The team lacked invention and sharpness before new club record £53.8m signing Ndombele cancelled out John McGinn’s opener after Villa failed to clear their lines following Tom Heaton’s save to keep out Davinson Sanchez.

Suddenly, Spurs had confidence and momentum and Kane, who had never scored in August until last season, made sure of the points with a quick-fire double in the final four minutes.

He made it 2-1 after Jack Grealish, a Spurs transfer target 12 months ago, lost possession, and then wrapped it up with a clinical finish which left Villa crestfallen.

Villa’s harsh reminder of life in the Premier League

For long periods, Villa looked set to mark their return to the Premier League with at least a point.

In the end, the team that finished fifth in the Championship table last season were handed a cruel reminder of the realities of Premier League football.

Tottenham only managed one shot on target in the first half, but by the end of the 90 minutes they had produced 31 efforts in total - 10 of which were blocked as Villa defended heroically for long spells.

Having been absent from the top flight for three years, Villa quickly made up for lost time by scoring with their first shot to stun the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

McGinn kept his cool to slot past Hugo Lloris after Moussa Sissoko and Danny Rose failed to get a challenge in on the Scotland midfielder.

Spurs were a shadow of the team that beat Manchester City and Ajax on the way to last season’s Champions League final and Villa had opportunities to extend their advantage.

New signing Trezeguet created space for an opening but could not finish while Grealish also had a chance, before Tottenham turned the game on its head in the closing stages.

Despite defeat, Villa boss Dean Smith will be positive about the next nine months. His side played with freedom and a spirit which suggests they are capable of holding their own at this level.

*Aston Villa boss Dean Smith:* “We want to be competitive in this league. Next week we’ll be walking out at Villa Park - but we’ll be doing so with zero points and that’s something we have to work on.

“The better team won on the day in the second half. We were perhaps unfortunate with the goals. Their physicality shone through in the end.

“The first half performance and our defensive organisation was very good. They’re not Champions League finalists for nothing - they have a very well coached group of players.

“We’re always learning lessons, today’s game has set a standard for us.”
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*The Guardian*
*Saturday 10 August 2019*

“Harry Kane’s late double takes Spurs past resurgent Aston Villa”

Villa opened the scoring in the ninth minute, John McGinn’s confidently taken goal typifying a first-half performance in which Dean Smith’s side out-thought their opponents and matched them physically. The second period brought a shift in both momentum and personnel, with Christian Eriksen’s introduction just past the hour changing the match. Tanguy Ndombele scored a fine equaliser on his debut before a brace in the final five minutes from Harry Kane tied up three points that were ultimately well deserved.

There will be no ‘August curse’ for Kane this year and the England captain looks sharp after being afforded the luxury of a week or two without football this summer. “I think he spent a nice holiday, you saw it on Instagram,” said Mauricio Pochettino. But the impact Eriksen had may nag at the Argentinian manager until the transfer window closes in Europe at the beginning of September.

Spurs, it sometimes seems, have spent the past 18 months constantly plugging gaps, always one or two players short. After a summer of substantial recruitment – Ndombele being joined by Giovanni Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon – his options have finally been replenished and new alternatives are possible.

With Eriksen inserted between Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko the Dane found freedom he rarely enjoyed last season and he used it to decisive effect. But Eriksen has said he would like to leave the club if he can find the right move, ending a possibly promising combination before it had really begun.

Pochettino may feel galled at the prospect of losing his playmaker at this juncture but he is not one to acknowledge disappointment and rejected the common assessment that Eriksen had been a game changer. “I do not agree,” he said. “I agree that in the first half we were a little predictable, we never found the best way to play and break down [Villa] quickly. In the second half we played really well.

“Of course when Christian came on to the pitch he was fresh and he’s a top player so he helped the team to win. That is the outcome when you have a player who maybe cannot play 90 minutes but has real quality,” the manager said.

In another noteworthy selection choice Jan Vertonghen, who like Eriksen has only a year remaining on his contract, was left out of the squad entirely.

Villa will also have come away considering frustrated possibilities. Their goal came early and was not really a surprise. Spurs dominated possession in the early stages but McGinn had been looking to take advantage of any turnover of possession. As soon as Villa won the ball, he was making runs off the back of Tottenham’s midfield.

He tried it once, he tried it twice and then, in the seventh minute, Tyrone Mings found him running beyond with a raking 60-yard pass. Danny Rose tried to chase McGinn down but the Scot sent the defender to the floor and then finished promptly past Hugo Lloris at his far post.

Villa gained confidence from that goal and held their own in the first half. They then fell away badly in the second, unable to hold possession and dwelling on the ball when they had it. Jack Grealish was robbed on the edge of his own box in the build-up to Harry Kane’s first goal and Sissoko both seized the ball and drove 30 yards through the centre of the pitch on the way to setting up Kane’s clinical second. Dean Smith acknowledged his team had been worn out by the end.

“I’m disappointed with the second-half performance, we were too cheap on the ball,” Smith said. “If you keep giving the ball away and keep having to chase it… I think their physicality showed through at the end. There’s definitely things we need to reflect on and analyse but I think we’ve shown we can compete.”