Aston Villa moved within two points of the Premier League summit as they inflicted a third straight defeat on Tottenham on Sunday.
Spurs started the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a point above Villa, and they looked set to extend that when Giovani Lo Celso’s deflected strike put them ahead in the first half.
But Unai Emery’s men would level in the dying stages of a thrilling opening 45 minutes through Pau Torres, before Ollie Watkins’ cool finish put Villa ahead after the break.
Ange Postecoglou’s side did everything but score in their hunt for a point, but Villa just about managed to get over the line to move into the top four and two points behind leaders Arsenal.
Destiny Udogie spurned a golden opportunity within three minutes of kick-off as he chipped over, before Dejan Kulusevki did the same as he cut in before firing off the left post when it appeared he couldn’t miss.
Torres missed a great chance as he headed wide in what was a frantic start to proceedings, before Spurs took the lead with 23 minutes on the clock, Lo Celso’s powerful effort flying in off the thigh of Diego Carlos.
OUR STRIKER. pic.twitter.com/sIUwdCjvV2
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 26, 2023
Watkins saw a goal disallowed for offside just moments later, but Villa would equalise on the stroke of half-time, Torres powering a header home to send the teams into the break level.
Leon Bailey came on at the interval and nearly put the visitors in front, seeing a curling effort tipped onto the post by Guglielmo Vicario, while Son Heung-min saw a low shot saved at the other end.
Watkins would get his goal with 62 minutes gone, the striker sliding a fine finish past Vicario and into the back of the net to put Villa in front for the first time in the contest.
Spurs’ pursuit of an equaliser saw them go close on numerous occasions, with Ben Davies nodding just over before Emiliano Martinez made a pair of sublime saves in quick succession to deny Brennan Johnson and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
The hosts came within inches of a leveller when Porro thundered off the post before Son’s strike from the rebound was ruled out for offside, but Villa held on to claim a superb away victory and further dent Spurs’ hopes at the top of the Premier League.
