Of all Tottenham's recent setbacks this was the most dispiriting — a familiar and self-inflicted defeat against fierce rivals West Ham.
Mingled with the disappointment after the home defeats to Chelsea and Aston Villa, there was a sense of optimism at Spurs's progress and pride at their performance, but on Thursday night there was only frustration for Ange Postecoglou, his players and fans.
For a fifth game running, Spurs squandered a lead and failed to win — they have now taken one point from a possible 15 — setting a new Premier League record and continuing an alarming trend of being unable to build on promising positions.
The returning Cristian Romero's looping header to make it 1-0 was no less than Spurs deserved, but they could not turn possession into more goals, and after the break West Ham capitalised on good fortune and bad defending to score through Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse.
Postecoglou afterwards compared the performance to the Villa defeat here by the same scoreline, saying it was another occasion "where we've dominated a game and haven't turned our dominance into something more tangible".
There was, however, an obvious difference. While Villa used a high line, David Moyes employed a low block, packing his players behind the ball and frustrating Spurs. The home side had their chances, but largely struggled to find a way through a sea of claret and blue, particularly after Ward-Prowse's goal meant the visitors no longer had any incentive to take risks.
Giovani Lo Celso had a decent game, passing the ball confidently and stinging Lukasz Fabianski's palms in one of Spurs's better chances, but the Argentine can be a little ponderous in these games, too eager for an extra touch.
Spurs desperately missed the speed and ingenuity of James Maddison, sidelined until the New Year with ankle ligament damage, particularly as Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson were missing a final ball from wide areas.
It feels like it will come eventually, but the major concern for Postecoglou is that there is now a blueprint for smaller clubs to potentially follow: weather the early storm and challenge Spurs to find a way through. It is increasingly obvious that 1-0 is rarely going to be enough for a Postecoglou team, and opponents are starting to realise that if they can stay in the game, they will usually get a chance to level up.
Newcastle, who Spurs host on Sunday, and Everton, the visitors to north London on December 23, will have watched Thursday night's events with particular interest.
West Ham owed their equaliser to a slice of good fortune, Mohammed Kudus's blocked shot ricocheting off Ben Davies into the path of Bowen, who finished emphatically to continue his fine record of scoring in all seven away games he has played this season.
Bowen was also involved in the winner, running down Destiny Udogie's under-hit back-pass and forcing Guglielmo Vicario into an emergency lunge with his hands. Ward-Prowse was first to the loose ball, striking the post before rolling the rebound into the unguarded net.
It was a smash and grab, but a vindication of sorts of Moyes's containment-first approach, and the Scot hailed the victory as a "big moment" for fans and his team.
"It is increasingly obvious that 1-0 is rarely going to be enough for a Postecoglou team"
Long-term, however, the result will do little to assuage the doubters who believe there are limitations to Moyes's pragmatism and that West Ham need a more progressive style of play. Thursday night was, remarkably, Moyes's first away win at one of the so-called 'big six' in 40 attempts with the Hammers, and it might easily have gone the other way.
West Ham should enjoy the moment, but if there is any comfort today for Spurs fans, it is that Postecoglou is building an exciting team for the long-term. "We're still right at the beginning of what we need to create," he said.
By contrast, Moyes's approach still does not feel sustainable for future success at a club with West Ham's quality, budget and ambitions.
In the immediate term, however, it is Postecoglou who will go into this weekend feeling the heat. Whatever the promise of his project, going six games without a win would leave any Spurs manager in a fix and they need to return to winning ways against Newcastle.
"We can't feel sorry for ourselves," he said — and the key now is to stay in touch with the top four until they find their rhythm and Maddison returns.
