Scraping his fingernails over his teeth, Roberto De Zerbi looked dejected and downwards as Emi Buendia curled into the far corner to put Aston Villa three up and pile the misery on Tottenham.
That it eventually ended 3-2 to the visitors was merely an update in the finer details of a game Spurs lost at 3-0 and lost in spirit at 2-0, when it became increasingly routine for the visitors to maraud through their hosts’ expensive new-look midfield as though it were in need of the flash surge of investment it has only just been given.
