The mood at Tottenham is never far from turning sour and the restless natives made their feelings plain after an unhappy start to the new year brought a dispiriting home defeat. Aston Villa struck the first blow after a mistake from the returning Hugo Lloris, with Emiliano Buendía taking advantage, before Douglas Luiz finished off a sharp move to continue their progress under Unai Emery.
Spurs supporters have never appeared to buy into Antonio Conte’s pragmatic approach and this dismal loss – greeted by vociferous boos from the masses – will do little to quieten talk of a change of coach with the Italian’s contract running only until the end of the season.
Tottenham’s lack of attacking guile was starkly laid bare with Conte likely to need fresh ammunition in the January window if he is to guide them to another top-four finish. The joyous scenes elsewhere in north London, during Arsenal’s ascent to the top of the table, has only -deepened the gloom surrounding Spurs after their fourth defeat in the past seven Premier League games.
Conte made four changes from the team that drew at Brentford, with Cristian Romero making his first appearance since his role in Argentina’s World Cup triumph. Romero and Ben Davies returned to the defence with Eric Dier and Japhet Tanganga demoted to the bench. Lloris also made his first start since returning from France’s run to the final in Qatar. Bryan Gil was handed his first league start and the influential winger Dejan Kulusevski, out with a muscle injury, was sorely missed.
Emery selected the same team that lost at home to Liverpool on Boxing Day, with the World Cup winner Emiliano Martínez on the bench and the goalkeeper Robin Olsen keeping his place after the maverick Argentinian returned to training on Friday.
Villa created the first opportunity with a long ball releasing Ollie Watkins and the striker cut inside but dragged his low shot harmlessly wide. Spurs responded and their first sight of goal came from an unlikely source, Matt Doherty nutmegging Tyrone Mings, but the defender’s effort was deflected out for a corner off Boubacar Kamara.
Tottenham were struggling to create openings, with Villa content to sit deep and frustrate. The game needed something to spark it into life and Romero’s lunging tackle on Watkins resulted in a brief skirmish between the teams and a yellow card for the Spurs defender.
Villa’s gameplan appeared to be working effectively with the onus on Spurs to open them up and the home fans were starting to become impatient as the half progressed.
Ashley Young had already been on the receiving end of a strong challenge from Davies and a further lunge by the Spurs defender on the Villa veteran resulted in another booking. Young’s apparently everlasting energy was underlined before the break with the 37-year-old flinging himself on the goalline to prevent Harry Kane’s header, after a cross from Ivan Perisic, from opening the scoring.
Son Heung-min floated in an ambitious attempt from a free-kick on the right edge of the penalty area but Olsen was safely behind it. At the other end, sightings were rare for Villa but Buendía curled a long-range shot past Lloris’s far post in a first half starved of attacking craft.
Villa made the perfect start to the second half as they pounced to stun Spurs. Douglas Luiz’s long-range shot was not dealt with by Lloris, the goalkeeper parrying straight to Watkins, who set up Buendía for a low finish into the unguarded net. It was the 10th consecutive game in which Tottenham had conceded the opening goal but there was no comeback this time.
Spurs looked for an immediate response but Perisic could only blast over the bar after controlling Yves Bissouma’s lofted ball. Conte’s attacking options from the bench were limited but he acted just after the hour by introducing Ryan Sessegnon in place of Gil. Kane had been afforded precious few opportunities and the frustrated striker could only lash a strike off target after a knockdown from Son.
Villa were increasingly growing in confidence and stamped their authority on the match with an exquisitely taken second goal. John McGinn chipped the ball over the static Spurs defence for Douglas Luiz and the Brazil midfielder controlled the ball and flicked a finish beyond Lloris’s flailing arms.
It was the seventh successive league match in which Spurs had conceded at least two goals but their lack of creativity was the greater concern as they failed to put Olsen under any pressure.
Emery’s team were playing with conviction, with a third goal almost arriving but the impressive Douglas Luiz’s shot was held by Lloris. Villa finished with a swagger, as Emery extended his unbeaten record against Tottenham to four league matches including his time in charge at Arsenal.
A third win in four league games under Emery is a strong return after his October arrival at Villa but for Conte the storm clouds are gathering.
