Joao Palhinha shows Spurs frustrations in the defeat to Villa John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images

It had all looked so good for Tottenham Hotspur and Thomas Frank after five minutes.

They flew out of the traps to take a 1-0 lead through Rodrigo Bentancur but that was as good as it got for Spurs, lovely goals from Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia turning the game on its head to inflict a third defeat of the season on the home team.

Spurs had the lead in the fifth minute when Bentancur hammered home from close range after Joao Palhinha's nod down at the back post.

They were good value for the lead until eight minutes before the break when Rogers equalised with a brilliant right-foot shot that flew over Guglielmo Vicario from 25 yards -- only the sixth league goal he has conceded this season.

And from that moment Villa grew into the game. They edged what became a scrappy second-half and deservedly took the lead when Buendia bent a shot beyond Vicario in the 77th minute.

The Athletic's Elias Burke analyses the action.

Frank sides tend to start early. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Frank sides have scored more goals inside the opening five minutes than any team in the Premier League.

Five of those were at Brentford, but against Villa, Frank brought that lightning start to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time. It was evident from the Super Cup in August that Frank would place more emphasis on set-pieces than his predecessor, Ange Postecoglou, and they have continued to be threatening from corners and free-kicks in the early weeks of the season.

It was no surprise, then, that Bentancur opened his account for the season after the ball had been recycled from a corner.

Bentancur, who signed a contract extension days before Tottenham's 2-1 win against Leeds United last time out, profited from a smart header across the box from Palhinha, converting on the volley from eight yards out.

It's Tottenham's earliest goal of the league season, with the own goal scored by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior in the 1-0 win over the Spanish side in the Champions League the earliest in all competitions. Flying out of the blocks is a trait of Frank's sides -- it was a shame they retreated so much after Rogers' equaliser.

When Tottenham go ahead under Frank, they tend to stay there. Even after being pegged back against Leeds United after opening the scoring, they rebounded in the second half to take the lead and win the game. While it was hardly a collapse, Tottenham let their ascendancy slip against Villa.

Like the home tie against Villarreal in the Champions League, Tottenham went ahead early and sat on it. Being effective and efficient from set-pieces is an important string for any top side to have, but their lack of creativity on the ball -- Xavi Simons was largely absent -- meant Spurs were over-reliant on crafting opportunities from dead-ball situations.

Palhinha and Bentancur did an excellent job, particularly in the first half, of winning tackles in Villa's midfield, not allowing their creative No 10s time and space to play the ball through the heart of the pitch. But when they won the ball, setting Spurs off on the counter, Tottenham's attackers failed to do anything with it.

Spurs showed encouraging signs of a burgeoning partnership between Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel and Destiny Udogie who has a minor knee injury, against Leeds, but none of that was evident against Villa.

Spurs were fortunate to escape that Villarreal game with a 1-0 win, but Unai Emery's side made their lack of attacking endeavour pay. The game looked set to peter out into a 1-1 draw after Rogers equalised with a thunderous long-distance strike, before Villa grabbed the winner with a moment of inspiration delivered by Matty Cash, Lucas Digne and Buendia.

It marks their second home defeat of the season, and given the difficulty of their fixture schedule until December, it's an untimely slip.

As club captain and arguably Tottenham's most influential player, an injury sustained in the warm-up to Cristian Romero felt like a significant pre-match blow. But with another solid performance, Kevin Danso proved he is capable deputy.

Danso has typically performed best for Spurs as an outside defender in a back three, but he assumed Romero's role in partnering Micky van de Ven from the right side of central defence. Aside from his world-class ability as a distributor, Spurs miss Romero's physicality and aggressiveness in central defence most, but Danso dealt with Donyell Malen's pace well.

In one instance in the first half, Malen, who went touch-tight with the Switzerland international until he was replaced on the hour by Ollie Watkins, span in behind Danso and looked to be heading towards a one-v-one opportunity with Vicario. But Danso recovered excellently, chasing back to ease the forward off the ball, ala Van de Ven.

Few can replicate Romero's passing from defence, but Danso comes with his own weapon: a wicked long-throw. He had the opportunity to use it in the second half, but Tottenham were unable to capitalise when the ball broke. Overall, a positive first league start of the season, and an encouraging signal that he can step up when needed. He was not to blame for Spurs letting their lead slip.

Tottenham 1 Aston Villa 2: What went wrong after flying start? Did Danso prove a point?