Aston Villa came from behind in a pulsating encounter at Tottenham to claim a 2-1 win and hand Ange Postecoglou’s side their third successive defeat.
There were emotional scenes before kick-off as both sets of supporters paid tribute to former Spurs boss Terry Venables, whose death at the age of 80 was announced on Sunday.
Perhaps that roused the hosts, who started with a fiery intensity and should have scored two early goals through Destiny Udogie and Dejan Kulusevski.
Spurs eventually got the goal their play deserved when Giovani Lo Celso – starting his first Premier League game in more than two years – saw his powerful drive deflect off Diego Carlos and past the helpless Emiliano Martinez.
But errors started to creep into Spurs’ game, allowing Pau Torres to head in an equaliser in first-half stoppage time.
Heung-Min Son saw a hat-trick of goals disallowed as Spurs’ frustration built, before Ollie Watkins completed the turnaround to move Villa above Spurs and into fourth in the Premier League.
The positive approach espoused by both Postecoglou and Unai Emery pointed to an open and entertaining encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but the first half exceeded even those expectations.
Despite a disappointing away record under Emery – they had won just two of their last 10 on the road – Villa persisted with their remarkably high defensive line, and were nearly punished just minutes into the game when Destiny Udogie fired over after running onto Rodrigo Bentancur’s pass.
SkySports
