Spurs 1-2 Villa, FA Cup | Thomas Frank’s verdict
Sat 10 January 2026, 21:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Thomas Frank praised the team’s second half display after our 2-1 FA Cup third round defeat against Villa, while conceding ‘the second goal is what kills us’.
That goal, from Morgan Rogers, came in the third minute of four added at the end of the first half. Already leading 1-0 after Emiliano Buendia’s opener on 22 minutes, we were hit by two big blows – first, Richarlison being forced off due to an injury, then Rogers’ goal to put that extra daylight between the teams.
We responded well in the second half. Prompted by Xavi Simons, who took the game by the scruff of the neck, we pulled a goal back on 54 minutes through Wilson Odobert. Xavi was lose to levelling within a minute and Randal Kolo Muani had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside.
Despite getting into numerous dangerous positions, we couldn’t find an equaliser, so Villa take their place in the fourth round.
“I think the first 20 was probably relatively even,” reflected Thomas on SPURSPLAY. “After that (first) goal, we couldn't really get near them. We needed to react quicker to that. The four, five, six times we went high pressure, we actually won it, but we didn't get that enough. That changed in the second half.
“The second half was excellent. That's the game we want to play, with intensity, passion, aggression, good high pressure, playing forward, penetration with runs and passes, good goals.
“The first half was not as good. The second goal is what kills us. We're facing a good team, they scored a quality goal, the first one. The second half, when we’re all together, the fans, the energy, how they feed off each other, that's brilliant.”
Asked about Xavi’s influence in the second half, Thomas added: “There were a lot of good things in the second half, no doubt about that. I agree, Xavi was excellent, especially in the second half. He wanted to get on the ball, he wanted to be decisive, he wanted to make the final action, either with a pass or a goal or an assist or a second assist.
“The intensity from the whole team driving forward, I loved that. We need to put that together over two halves and cut out the mistakes, particularly the second goal.”
