Aston Villa hand Tottenham third straight loss to go fourth

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Does Unai Emery get the praise he deserves?

Shaka Hislop lauds the impact of Unai Emery after his Aston Villa side won 2-1 away at Tottenham Hotspur.

Updated: Nov 26, 2023, 09:57 pm

Tottenham Hotspur slipped to a third successive Premier League defeat as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Aston Villa in an absorbing clash full of chances on Sunday.

Villa's first win on the road in just over two months took them above Tottenham into fourth place in the table but it did not look likely early on.

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The hosts were given a deserved lead by Giovani Lo Celso's deflected shot in the 22nd minute and could have been comfortably ahead before Pau Torres levelled with a thumping header deep in first-half stoppage time.

Chances continued to flow both ways after the break but it was Villa who went ahead with a fine finish by Ollie Watkins just past the hour mark after being set up by Youri Tielemans.

Ollie Watkins' goal gave Villa a 2-1 victory.
Getty

Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez made two great saves, Ben Davies headed a golden chance over the bar and Pedro Porro hit the post for the luckless hosts who also suffered another injury blow as Rodrigo Bentancur limped off in the first half.

For Tottenham, who were unbeaten in their first 10 Premier League games under new manager Ange Postecoglou until a riotous 4-1 home defeat by Chelsea, the wheels appear to have come loose.

They are down to fifth place on 26 points and face champions Manchester City away next weekend.

Injury-hit Spurs are also the first side since Leicester City in 2014 to lose three successive Premier League matches despite leading 1-0, having also been in front against Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"A tough outcome but I couldn't be happier with the way the boys played," Postecoglou said 

"I'm really proud of them, I thought we played some fantastic football and on another day we would've won comfortably. There's no frustration. We played well and as a manager that's all you can ask for."

Unai Emery's Villa have 28 points from 13 games, behind Liverpool on goal difference, with Tottenham now in fifth place on 26 points.