Hugo Lloris was haunted by another Argentinian as the White Hart Lane faithful began 2023 in open revolt.
The stadium was half empty by the time Aston Villa were celebrating at the final whistle and those Tottenham fans who stayed booed the players off. Incredibly, it was only Villa’s second away win of the season and owed much to Lloris’ howler on his first start since he returned from the World Cup.
Two weeks on from losing to Argentina in the World Cup final, France captain Lloris’ horrible mistake led to Villa’s Argentinian midfielder Emiliano Buendia scoring the 50th-minute opener. It was the 10th game in a row in all competitions Tottenham had gone behind and this time they ran out of lives as they could not turn the game around - and the fans wasted no time in voicing their frustrations.
They chanted “Daniel Levy, get out of our club” at the chairman, booed when manager Antonio Conte brought on Emerson Royal and then cheered loudly when Djed Spence eventually came on. Spence has become a symbol of the crowd’s frustrations, with Conte not giving him more of a chance this season but, frankly, they could have picked on any number of under-performers.
Tottenham start the new year outside of the top four, the doubts remain over Conte’s long-term future and the misery is probably compounded by seeing north London rivals Arsenal seven points clear at the top. Conte has a gilt-edged CV which normally guarantees success but even he is running out of answers at Tottenham and clearly some of the fans are losing faith with him.
It was a really flat, tired performance from Tottenham while Villa showed more energy and had a better game plan thanks to their new boss Unai Emery. It is probably a reflection of Emery’s lacklustre spell in charge at Arsenal that he barely even got a boo from a fed-up home crowd, who were ready to barrack anybody and everybody.
Villa were excellent as Boubacar Kamara dominated midfield, Ollie Watkins ran himself into the ground and Tottenham never really looked like scoring. The closest Tottenham came was just before half-time when Ivan Perisic went through, Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen - who started ahead of Argentina hero Emiliano Martinez - forced him wide but Harry Kane ’s header was then cleared off the line by Ashley Young.
Villa bided their time and got their reward after 50 minutes. Douglas Luiz hit a shot from about 35 yards, Lloris spilled the ball, Watkins was there to pinch it and pull it back for Buendia to score. Conte had defended Lloris to the hilt last week, saying he was a “guarantee” for Tottenham after some question marks in his direction during the World Cup as to whether he had become a weak link.
The trouble for Lloris is that, at 36, despite his experience and quality, the mistakes have become more frequent and high-profile. The cameras immediately panned onto him looking crestfallen.
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Lloris could not stop Argentina a fortnight ago and another Argentine beat him again. It was the open invitation for Villa to go on and win the game. Kamara nicked the ball from Kane in midfield, Luiz swapped passes with John McGinn before the Brazilian then latched onto the return and fired past Lloris after 73 minutes.
That was the cue for the fans to turn on Levy and they let Conte know what they thought of his substitutions as none of them succeeded in changing the game, although his options from the bench were severely limited by injuries.
There might just be something stirring at Villa under Emery but, 14 months into his reign at Tottenham, it is hard to imagine Conte hanging around in the summer if Spurs miss out on the top four.
