Tottenham suffered their third consecutive defeat.
Tottenham were defeated for the third time in a row, as Ollie Watkins’ second-half winner sent Aston Villa into the Premier League’s top four.
After a dramatic end-to-end encounter in which Pau Torres scored a first-half header and Watkins netted a second after 61 minutes, Unai Emery’s team came from behind to win 2-1 and leapfrog Spurs.
Giovani Lo Celso put Tottenham ahead after 22 minutes, with Ange Postecoglou’s selection gamble coming off, but the hosts’ profligacy in front of goal cost them, and Villa recorded their eighth win in ten games.
Terry Venables, a former Tottenham Hotspur player and manager, died hours before the game, and a minute’s applause was held in his honour before kick-off.
Postecoglou’s side pick may have come straight from Venables’ playbook, with the Australian going even more aggressive than usual despite the absence of 11 first-team players, including Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Rodrigo Bentancur, Lo Celso, and Bryan Gil all made their league debuts, and it could have been 2-2 after five minutes.
Within the first 60 seconds, Villa captain John McGinn’s cutback was too forceful for the unmarked Matty Cash, and Destiny Udogie was sent away at the other end but sliced over with his weaker right foot.
Following Son Heung-min’s wonderful through ball, Dejan Kulusevski hit the post, and Brennan Johnson’s follow-up was blocked by Torres, who then should have broken the deadlock but headed his free header wide from McGinn’s free-kick.
The frantic start continued, with a Gil effort saved by Emi Martinez before Son hooked over, despite the offside flag being waved.
Another chance was squandered when Pedro Porro’s cutback for Son was intercepted, but Tottenham did score in the 22nd minute.
Lo Celso’s exquisite half-volley from the edge of the box took a deflection to leave compatriot Martinez with no chance after a Porro corner was cleared.
It was Lo Celso’s first Spurs goal in more than two years, but Villa responded perfectly at first.
Lucas Digne raced clear down the left immediately after the restart and crossed for Watkins to head home. Villa’s elation, however, was cut short as a three-minute VAR check revealed the England forward had been offside.
The end-to-end nature was quickly abandoned when Bentancur damaged his ankle as a result of Cash’s bad challenge.
While Son scored before halftime, it was disallowed for offside, and Villa’s rising domination led to an equalizer in the 52nd minute.
Torres was picked out by Douglas Luiz’s free-kick from the touchline, and he made no mistake with his header this time to tie the game at 1-1 at halftime.
Emery rejoiced with his backroom staff, but he also made a double replacement, bringing in Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey for the second period.
Bailey nearly made an immediate impression when his curled effort slipped past Guglielmo Vicario’s fingertips but struck a post.
The hectic aspect of the game had returned, with Johnson inches away from Kulusevski’s cross before Son’s shot was ruled out for offside.
Villa remained a threat, and they made it 2-1 not long after McGinn’s long-range lob flew harmlessly over.
Tielemans was at the heart of the action, with a swift one-two allowing Watkins a sight at goal, which the England forward arrowed into the bottom corner.
Porro tested Martinez and Ben Davies headed over from the resultant corner as Postecoglou’s side replied fiercely.
Vicario kept Tottenham in the game with a finger-tip save on Digne’s free-kick before Martinez was called upon again, but he produced fantastic saves on Johnson and Hojbjerg’s long-range curlers.
After Porro’s original shot struck the post, there was still time for Son to have another goal disallowed, but Postecoglou’s team failed to produce a late equalizer and lost their third straight loss.
