Sun 01 January 2023, 18:07
Tottenham HotspurAntonio Conte described how the opening goal ‘changed the feeling’ of the team as we fell to a 2-0 home loss against Aston Villa in the Premier League on New Year’s Day.
We dominated the first half but couldn’t find a way through Unai Emery’s packed Villa defence. Harry Kane came closest after Ivan Perisic was sent clear, forced wide by Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen, he crossed for Harry, whose header was cleared off the line by Ashley Young.
Villa took the lead five minutes into the second half when Hugo Lloris spilled Douglas Luiz’s shot, reacted to block the follow up with Ben Davies only for Ollie Watkins to roll the loose ball back to Emiliano Buendia to fire home. Luiz made it 2-0 on 74 minutes from John McGinn’s pass, and that’s how it stayed.
Speaking to SPURSPLAY, Antonio told us: “Honestly, today I saw the right commitment, the right desire, the right will in the eyes of my players.
“In the first half, we dominated the game, although we didn’t create many chances to score because we found a team that defended really deep with 11 players. Then, in the second half, we started in the same way. I said we needed a bit of patience and to move the ball quickly and to find the opportunities to attack the space behind the line or find a point of reference in the box, like Harry or Sonny.
“Then, we conceded a goal. In football, we know that can happen. You dominate the game and then you concede a goal you can avoid. I think after this goal our feeling changed totally. I think the players felt they didn’t deserve to be 1-0 down and it was difficult. Now, we have to move on.”
