Sometimes it is easy to be led by the scoreboard. This was a pulsating battle between two clubs energised by smart managerial appointments and there is a temptation to argue that the turning point came when Aston Villa somehow went in level at half-time, allowing Unai Emery to bend the game to his will with a double substitution that gave a previously rampant Tottenham Hotspur more questions to answer during the second half.
It was proactive management from Emery, who was too cute to be fooled by Pau Torres hauling Villa level in the seventh minute of added time. Doing nothing would have been complacent. Tottenham had dominated, Giovani Lo Celso putting them ahead, and they could have been out of sight at the end of the first half.
“Any other day we probably win comfortably,” Ange Postecoglou said. “It’s fine margins in football.”
Postecoglou and Emery both thought of the missed chances. Given a chance to regroup the Villa manager duly responded, Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey replacing Moussa Diaby and Matty Cash, and the decisiveness was most evident when the winner arrived in the 61st minute. After all it was Tielemans who played the pass when Ollie Watkins, who was keen to put a disappointing display for England behind him, scored the goal with which Villa took fourth place from Spurs and moved to within two points of the top of the table.
Yet, while Watkins’ 12th goal of the season meant Villa set a club record of 22 Premier League wins in a calendar year, Emery refused to get carried away. There was no talk of a title challenge. Instead, there was realism from Emery, who said seven clubs have a better chance than Villa of finishing in the top four.
Perhaps that was why Postecoglou stayed positive after his side’s third consecutive defeat. The Australian would have been more concerned if Spurs, who will surely improve once key players return from injury, had played within themselves on a day when they remembered their former midfielder and manager, Terry Venables, after he died at the age of 80.
The action was frenetic from the start. Destiny Udogie and Dejan Kulusevski threatened for Spurs, the latter hitting the woodwork, while Villa looked dangerous from crossing positions. Torres, all alone from John McGinn’s free-kick, was aghast to send a free header wide.
Spurs respected their attacking heritage. Before kick-off they remembered Venables, who won the FA Cup as a Spurs player in 1967 and as their manager in 1991, while the walk down memory lane continued when the teamsheets arrived: Postecoglou had channelled his inner Ossie Ardiles by selecting a back four of full-backs, named one defensive midfielder and given Bryan Gil and Lo Celso their first starts in the league this season.
It was terrific fun. Spurs pushed, Gil testing Emiliano Martínez, and kept trying to breach Villa’s risky high line. Ezri Konsa was struggling at right-back and Villa conceded. Pedro Porro’s corner from the right bounced through a mass of bodies and the ball came to Lo Celso, who was alone on the edge of the area and free to score with a shot that went in off Diego Carlos.
Kulusevski almost made it 2-0 and Son Heung-min had a goal disallowed. Spurs were overwhelming Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara in midfield and Emery’s use of Cash in an advanced position was not working. The right‑back’s only notable contribution was being booked for the foul that forced Rodrigo Bentancur to go off 32 minutes into the Spurs midfielder’s first start since February.
Yet Villa rallied. Spurs were vulnerable with Eric Dier unable to start and Ben Davies and Emerson Royal filling in for Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in central defence. There were no leaders at the back and Villa thought they had levelled moments after Lo Celso’s goal, only for a lengthy VAR check to show that Watkins had strayed offside when he headed Lucas Digne’s cross past Guglielmo Vicario.
No matter. Villa’s crosses were causing damage and they soon had a straightforward equaliser. Douglas Luiz delivered a free-kick from the right, Davies lost Torres and the defender headed home.
Not that Emery was happy. The mood changed when he brought Bailey on for his running and Tielemans for his passing. Villa were more secure on the right, though Spurs still threatened, Brennan Johnson almost converting Kulusevski’s cross.
Yet Spurs were nervous without the ball, especially with Pierre‑Emile Højbjerg a less effective shield than Bentancur. Gaps appeared and Villa advanced. Bailey almost embarrassed Vicario and it was not long before Villa were ahead. Bailey found Watkins and after playing a one-two with Tielemans the striker ran through to squeeze a shot past Vicario.
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Spurs, missing the creativity of James Maddison, refused to give up. There were chances for Porro, Davies, Johnson and Højbjerg but Martínez was in inspired form. Villa had done enough.
While Emery was grateful for the options on his bench, Spurs felt their lack of depth come back to bite them.
Postecoglou was able to name only eight substitutes, including two goalkeepers, and he knew it was not going to be his day when Son had another goal disallowed.
