Tottenham Sink Into Relegation Zone as Brighton End Arsenal’s Perfect Start

Tottenham Hotspur’s miserable start to the Premier League season deepened on Saturday as they fell 3-2 at home to Aston Villa, leaving them winless and inside the relegation zone after five matches.

Villa struck through Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson and Emi Buendia, with Tottenham’s late goals from Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke proving mere consolation.

The result piled more pressure on manager Roberto De Zerbi, whose expensively assembled side have now collected just two points from their opening five fixtures and sit 18th in the table.

It is a remarkable collapse for a club that spent heavily in the summer on players such as Omar Marmoush, Savio and Sandro Tonali, yet have managed only two goals all season.

Meanwhile, Brighton produced the standout performance of the weekend, dismantling defending champions Arsenal 3-0 at the Amex Stadium to end the Gunners’ perfect start.

Pascal Gross opened the scoring in the 31st minute, Charalampos Kostoulas doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, and Chema Andrés headed home a third after the break.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler said his side were “horrible to play against” and described the win as “something special” against “the best team in England”.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had no complaints, acknowledging his side were second best on the day as they surrendered top spot to Manchester City on goal difference.