Aston Villa overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Tottenham and move up to fourth place in the Premier League standings, above Ange Postecoglou’s injured team. Ollie Watkins scored the game’s winning goal.
When word leaked out that the former Lilywhites manager had passed away in the hours before kickoff, the stadium held an emotional tribute to the late, great Terry Venables.
Dejan Kulusevski and Destiny Udogie were among those who missed some wonderful opportunities as Tottenham came out of the traps, and on minute 22, Giovani Lo Celso’s deflected goal handed the home team a well-earned lead.
Villa was only fortunate to be in the game despite being the second-best team, but Unai Emery’s team shocked the home crowd in stoppage time of the first half when Pau Torres headed in a Douglas Luiz free kick.
After the break, the pattern persisted, but Tottenham was unable to capitalize on their superiority until just after the hour, when Watkins scored his eighth Premier League goal of the year.
With the win, Villa is now just two points behind leaders Arsenal in the top four. Tottenham loses their third straight game, dropping them to fifth place and four points below the top of the table.
Prior to traveling to Bournemouth on Sunday, Villa will now concentrate on its match against Legia Warsaw at home on Thursday in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Spurs visit Manchester City, the reigning team.