ASTON VILLA OUTCLASS SPURS AS THOMAS FRANK’S MEN REMAIN WINLESS AT HOME
Aston Villa came from behind to beat Tottenham 2-1, securing their first away win of the season. Emiliano Buendía's late winner sealed the points after Morgan Rogers cancelled out Bentancur's opener.
To guarantee that the points were split at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Morgan Rogers countered Rodrigo Bentancur's early opening.
In a game with few opportunities, no team was able to establish a dominant lead for an extended period of time.
Generally speaking, Spurs played with greater attacking zeal and attempted to enter the Villa box as soon as possible with each attack, but they found it difficult to capitalise on their pressure.
Despite being mostly restricted to long-range attempts, the visitors managed to convert two of them to secure all three points.
This was Villa's first away victory of the season in the Premier League. For a few hours at least, they prevented Spurs from moving up to second position.
The match's backstory
After just five minutes, Spurs took the lead and put Villa under pressure in their defensive third, giving them the first corner of the match.
Mohammed Kudus, on the left, received the first delivery, which was cleared. João Palhinha found Bentancur for a tap-in after meeting his whipped cross to the back post.
Shortly afterwards, Kudus had the ball in the net once more, but he was called offside since he had begun his run too early.
Villa tried to go long and made more complex passes around the box's edge, but they were unable to get past the Spurs' defence.
Before kickoff, Matty Cash, their lone Premier League goal scorer away from home, took two of their three shots in the first half, all of which came from beyond the box.
Rogers eventually managed to free up time and space to shoot across his body, but it was too fast to give Guglielmo Vicario, the Tottenham custodian, any chance.
As in the first half, the Spurs got off to a more intense start in the second. Kevin Danso's long throw and João Palhinha's long-range attempt gave them the first scare.
The home team was still in control, but shortly after John McGinn played Donyell Malen in, Villa got their first attempt from inside the box.
At the hour, Richarlison and Ollie Watkins, respectively, were introduced as both teams' normal starting strikers.
After joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain late in the transfer window, Randal Kolo Muani made his Premier League debut in the closing moments.
However, Emiliano Buendía, a substitute, gave Villa the lead with another strike from the edge of the box.
Cash's long ball was expertly collected by Lucas Digne, who then passed it to the Argentine winger, who curled his shot into the bottom corner along the ground.
Spurs completed the game with nothing to show for their occasional bright spots, despite having defended well and generated many significant chances.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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