Dean Smith spoke of his frustration after Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in what he felt was an “untidy” game.
A closely-fought first half was separated by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s 27th-minute strike in north London.
Ollie Watkins equalised with his first goal of the season in the second period but Lucas Moura converted from close range just four minutes later to seal what turned out to be the difference between the two sides at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Defeat ended a run of back-to-back Premier League wins for Villa heading into the international period.
Asked how he saw it when speaking to VillaTV post-match, Smith said: “Frustrating, disappointing.
“I thought it was a really untidy game with neither team really getting a stronger hold in it, they probably had a spell in the first half where they got the goal and they had us stressed for 10 minutes.
“But that probably came from us winning the ball back, giving it away and winning it back and giving it away again…
“And it became a bit of a game like that.
“We spoke about moving the ball quick and switching play in the second half and I thought we started the second half well.
“We were rewarded with a good goal, Ollie’s first of the season, and then unfortunately, for me, the game turned, the outstanding player on the day was (Heung-Min) Son.
“Sometimes the game changes on who that player can be and he’s created the goal for them.
“We were probably too aggressive at that period. We had just got a goal back, got back into the game and they broke quickly down the side of us and unfortunately 1v1 he’s got the other side of Kortney (Hause) and crossed for them.
“After that it was tough, they wanted to see the game out and get that win and we were throwing everything at it to get back in it.
“As I say, it was an untidy, messy game.”
You can watch Dean’s full post-match interview below…
