The honeymoon period is over for Ange Postecoglou.
After two defeats in a week to Chelsea and Wolves knocked Tottenham off top spot before the international break, they created enough chances to beat Aston Villa.
But their failure to capitalise cost them, as Villa stole a 2-1 win and left Spurs with three successive defeats ahead of a trip to Manchester City next weekend.
Villa, in sealing victory, leapfrogged Spurs into fourth place, leaving Postecoglou’s side in fifth and four points off leaders Arsenal.
From a Tottenham perspective, it didn’t need to be like this. They created a so many opportunities, and only their lack of clinical finishing let them down.
Line-breaking passes from Pedro Porro and Rodrigo Bentancur allowed attackers ahead of them to run at Villa, but clear-cut chances came and went.
Destiny Udogie blazed over, Dejan Kulusevski fired against the post, and then Brennan Johnson passed behind Heung-min Son, who hashed over.
The lead eventually came, and from an unlikely source: Giovani Lo Celso, on his first start since Nuno Espirito Santo’s final game in charge back in October 2021.
His emotional celebration following a thumping volley which crashed in off Diego Carlos told of Lo Celso’s struggles for fitness and form since his move to Spurs.
Ollie Watkins had a goal disallowed a minute later and Spurs lost Rodrigo Bentancur - on his first start since suffering an ACL injury in February - to injury again.
When Spurs needed calm, they delivered angst. Villa levelled before the break through a well-placed Pau Torres header.
But in the second half the hosts continued to lack that cutting edge at the vital moment, as well as — it must be said — luck. Through Son (three times) and Johnson, they scored four offside goals.
The only one that did count fell Villa’s way. It was understandable why Postecoglou benched Eric Dier for this fixture following his Wolves display, but worrying how much space Watkins had to play with when he received the ball between makeshift centre-backs Ben Davies and Dier’s replacement Emerson Royal.
Watkins tucked past Guglielmo Vicario as Tottenham fell further away from the Premier League’s summit. Spurs clearly missed Maddison at the heart of the attack and Micky van de Ven in the heart of defence. They must learn to live without both.
This was a lesson in taking your chances.
