Tottenham 3 - 1 Aston Villa

Garde had barely taken his seat when Mousa Dembele went unchallenged before beating Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Dele Alli doubled Spurs' lead from 18 yards as they extended their unbeaten run to 10 league games.

Villa rallied as Jordan Ayew scored from the edge of the box but Harry Kane put the result beyond doubt late on.

Former Lyon boss Garde, who was announced as Villa's new manager hours before kick-off, saw a team which looked bereft of confidence in the first half as they recorded the club's worst ever start to a top-flight season after 11 games.

But they almost completed an unlikely turnaround as substitutes Ayew, Rudy Gestede and Carles Gil gave them added purpose.

Despite the result, Villa's second-half improvement will offer some encouragement for the Frenchman as his team seek to climb off the bottom of the table.

Garde sees nightmare start

The build-up to the game was hardly ideal for Villa given that Garde's arrival from France was delayed by fog. The club also learned hours earlier that defender Micah Richards would miss the match after pleading guilty to a misconduct charge.

Garde arrived at White Hart Lane shortly before kick-off and he barely had time to pull out his notebook before the visitors went behind to a goal which owed to poor defending.

The ball was chipped forward to Dembele on the left wing and as he wrestled with Ciaran Clark as he advanced on goal, and with no Villa challenge forthcoming, scored his second of the season.

After Villa's woeful start to the season, which in the words of chairman Randy Lerner has left them "way behind", Garde needs to inject purpose and leadership into a side who are struggling for goals.

That seemed to change 20 minutes before the end when Leandro Bacuna struck the post before Ayew found the net as his effort deflected in off Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen.

But Villa need to work on their first-half performance, which saw them register only three shots, compared to 10 after the break. They also suffered a blow when midfielder Ashley Westwood was substituted after taking a whack to the face from Dembele.

(BBC)