Aston Villa came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur on the day they remembered former player and manager Terry Venables.
The ex-England manager’s death was announced less than two hours before kick-off, and a minute’s applause was held to pay tribute to a man who won the FA Cup with Spurs as a player in 1967 and as manager in 1991.
Giovani lo Celso’s deflected opener looked to have got the early season pacesetters back on track after their unbeaten start came to an end with back-to-back defeats before the international break.
But Pau Torres levelled with a header deep into first-half added time before Ollie Watkins slotted in his 12th goal of the season to seal Villa’s turnaround.
Spurs pushed for an equaliser but could not avoid a third straight defeat – and they have taken the lead in each one of those games.
Tottenham were top of the Premier League table after their first 10 games but are now below Villa after victory in north London sent Unai Emery’s team above them into fourth place.
Spurs made to pay for missed chances
Venables’ passing was announced as the first supporters arrived at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and there were images of him on television screens in the concourses and on the big screen inside the ground.
Spurs have won just two major honours since Venables led them to the FA Cup in 1991 but a positive start to Ange Postecoglou’s spell in charge has raised hopes of ending their 15-year trophy drought.
An innovative, attack-minded coach, Venables would no doubt have been impressed by Spurs’ enterprising play under Postecoglou and, despite losing their last two matches, that philosophy continued against Villa.
The Australian made four changes to his side, some of them enforced, and one of the players to come into the side opened the scoring after a lively start.
Lo Celso hit a fierce effort from the edge of the box and its slight deflection off Diego Carlos wrong-footed Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
It was the Argentina midfielder’s first goal for Spurs since September 2021 – having since had two spells on loan at Villarreal – and only his second in the Premier League.
Destiny Udogie had earlier fired over while Dejan Kulusevski struck a post and Son Heung-min turned Brennan Johnson’s square ball over the bar.
After Lo Celso’s opener, Kulusevski curled a shot narrowly wide and Son had three goals disallowed for offside.
Then, with Spurs pushing for an equaliser after Villa’s fightback, Ben Davies headed narrowly over and Brennan Johnson was denied by Martinez.
Postecoglou will still have been encouraged by his depleted side’s performance and will lament the lack of clinical finishing that cost Spurs dearly.
