Tottenham looked to have finally ended their Premier League scoring drought when Mohammed Kudus netted against Aston Villa, but the celebrations at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium didn’t last. Kudus was sharpest to react and poked home from close range, only for VAR to step in and chalk it off because Andy Robertson was offside earlier in the move. Fans who had watched Spurs dominate large spells without reward were left angrier still.
Kudus, who came on at half-time, was the first to react when the ball dropped to him in the box, and for a moment it seemed Spurs had their first league goal of the season. The Premier League’s explanation was that Robertson was offside in the build-up, so Kudus wasn’t the player whose position cost them. The timing made it especially painful, as Spurs had gone into the game after failing to score in their first four league matches, a problem that has dominated talk about Roberto De Zerbi’s early spell in charge.
There was also confusion over one of the new 2026/27 rules, but it had nothing to do with Kudus’ goal. Under the new rule, a player treated on the pitch for an injury must leave the field for at least a minute after play restarts. It came into play when Micky van de Ven was treated after a collision, leaving Spurs briefly down to ten men. Villa took advantage, with Johan Manzambi scoring in first-half stoppage time.
Villa then went ahead again through Nicolas Jackson and Emiliano Buendia added another. Tottenham fought back late, with Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke scoring, but Villa held on to win 3-2, leaving Spurs still without a league victory this season.
For Kudus, it was an afternoon of promise and disappointment. The debate among fans goes beyond his finish to whether the move should have been allowed to reach that point, and whether supporters got a clear enough explanation of why their apparent equaliser was taken away. For a side desperate for a break, it became another symbol of a hugely frustrating day.
