FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM \u2013 Tottenham fell to a third successive Premier League defeat after suffering a 2-1 loss at home to Aston Villa.<\/strong><\/p>\n Spurs created plenty of chances but lacked a clinical edge, with Unai Emery\u2019s men digging in deep to take all three points.<\/p>\n Ange Postecoglou\u2019s makeshift and injury-hit side put up an admirable fight but ultimately fell short on Sunday.<\/p>\n With under a minute on the clock, Aston Villa cut Tottenham open. John McGinn managed to wriggle away from a couple of defenders and scamper to the byline, crossing for Matty Cash, but the Poland international\u2019s header looped up and out.<\/p>\n Almost immediately, Spurs went down the other end and had their first sight of goal, with Pedro Porro threading a lovely pass over the top for opposite full-back Destiny Udogie, but he lost all composure and fired over Emiliano Martinez\u2019s bar.<\/p>\n Tottenham then went even closer to taking the lead. Rodrigo Bentancur won possession back in midfield and slipped through Son Heung-min, whose first-time pass allowed Dejan Kulusevski to get around Pau Torres and sit down Ezri Konsa, with his strike rattling the inside of the post.<\/p>\n A frantic opening five minutes then saw Torres head wide from a Lucas Digne free-kick with the goal gaping.<\/p>\n The next chance fell Spurs\u2019 way as Kulusevski\u2019s clever ball between two Aston Villa centre-backs picked out Bryan Gil, who was thwarted by a strong save from Martinez.<\/p>\n The offside flag saved Son\u2019s blushes when he skied a low cross courtesy of Brennan Johnson from point-blank range.<\/p>\n Midway through the first half, Tottenham broke the deadlock. Aston Villa failed to properly clear a corner from Porro and the ball fell kindly to Giovani Lo Celso on the edge of the box, thrashing in a half-volley via a minor deflection off Carlos.<\/p>\n Almost immediately from kick-off, Aston Villa went down the other end and found the net themselves, with Ollie Watkins heading in from a Digne cross. However, after a lengthy VAR check, the England striker was found to be offside by a matter of millimetres and the goal was chalked off.<\/p>\n Just before half-time, Spurs thought they had a second when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg slipped in Son, who raced through to the box and finished, but the flag went up to curtail celebrations.<\/p>\n At the end of six first-half stoppage minutes, Aston Villa pulled level. Douglas Luiz\u2019s teasing free-kick from the right channel found Torres, who this time made no mistake and rose above Ben Davies to head home.<\/p>\n After the break, Aston Villa went close to going ahead head at the end of a quick breakaway, with Leon Bailey\u2019s curling strike pushed onto the post by Guglielmo Vicario.<\/p>\n A swift counter attack of their own saw Spurs nearly pull ahead again, but Johnson just couldn\u2019t get an outstretched leg on the end of a driven Kulusevski cross.<\/p>\n Another offside flag denied Son a goal, this time raised when Johnson was yards ahead of the last defender to receive a pass from Hojbjerg before he could square it to the South Korean.<\/p>\n On the hour mark, Aston Villa went in front for the first time on the day. Watkins managed to find a yard of space away from Emerson Royal and Davies on the edge of the penalty area, quickly getting a shot away and finding the far corner.<\/p>\n Martinez produced two stunning saves in quick succession to maintain the visitors\u2019 lead, first keeping out Johnson\u2019s close-range strike before tipping behind Hojbjerg\u2019s effort from distance.<\/p>\n The travelling fans thought they had another goal to celebrate when Watkins rose above Davies to meet a deep McGinn cross, but the ball bounced narrowly wide.<\/p>\n Son had one more goal denied by the offside flag before the final whistle as Aston Villa clung on and climbed above their hosts into fourth place.<\/p>\n Lo Celso was excellent \/ Nigel French\/Allstar\/GettyImages<\/p>\n GK: Guglielmo Vicario \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Didn\u2019t have much to do until late on when the game opened up a bit more. Quick off his line to clear danger.<\/p>\n RB: Pedro Porro \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Useful in Tottenham attacks but caught in possession on occasion and Aston Villa enjoyed building down his side.<\/p>\n CB: Emerson Royal \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Not the worst performance in the world in a new role. Looked comfortable at least.<\/p>\n CB: Ben Davies \u2013 5\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Similarly fine for the most part but can\u2019t ignore his attempts to mark a man several inches taller than him in Torres (though perhaps that\u2019s a setup issue).<\/p>\n LB: Destiny Udogie \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Defended well when actually in his set position. Attacking influence waned as the game went on.<\/p>\n CM: Rodrigo Bentancur \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Had fun pulling the strings before being substituted through injury brought about by a poor foul by Cash.<\/p>\n CM: Giovani Lo Celso \u2013 8\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Made good on his rare chance to impress, cutting Aston Villa open by way of passing or dribbling.<\/p>\n RM: Brennan Johnson \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Electric with the ball at his feet and if anything should have demanded it more often after spending long periods on the periphery of the match.<\/p>\n AM: Dejan Kulusevski \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Looks to have added more muscle, with various Aston Villa defenders bouncing off him when in full flight. Should have scored early on with the game at 0-0.<\/p>\n LM: Bryan Gil \u2013 5\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Worked hard for the team and was confident playing in tight spaces, but desperately lacked the physicality needed to make a real impact.<\/p>\n CF: Son Heung-min \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0His movement caused problems for Aston Villa, but the same could be said conversely about the visitors\u2019 excellent high line.<\/p>\n SUB: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (32\u2032 for Bentancur) \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0More industrious and robust than Bentancur, looking to break down Aston Villa by way of long-range passing than dribbling.<\/p>\n SUB: Oliver Skipp (71\u2032 for Gil) \u2013 5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n SUB: Alejo Veliz (86\u2032 for Lo Celso) \u2013 N\/A<\/strong><\/p>\n Subs not used: Fraser Forster (GK), Brandon Austin (GK), Eric Dier, Alfie Dorrington, Jamie Donley<\/em><\/p>\n Ange Postecoglou \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Tottenham\u2019s defending could still do with some work, but considering their various absences, this was a good performance.<\/p>\n A fine day for Martinez \/ Robin Jones\/GettyImages<\/p>\n GK: Emiliano Martinez \u2013 8\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Kept his side afloat with some huge saves in the second half. Knew when to try and take the sting out of the game.<\/p>\n RB: Ezri Konsa \u2013 7\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Had real joy snuffling Gil out of the game. Struggled early on to contain the extra threat of Udogie but managed to remove that danger in the end too.<\/p>\n CB: Diego Carlos \u2013 7\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Sat on his backside early on by Kulusevski but recovered well from there on in.<\/p>\n CB: Pau Torres \u2013 8\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Similarly bounced back from a shaky start to have a fine game at the back. Scorer of the equaliser.<\/p>\n LB: Lucas Digne \u2013 7\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0A bit relieved when the pacy Johnson swapped flanks. Always gave his winger a tough battle.<\/p>\n RM: Matty Cash \u2013 4\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Offered little in his one half of football. Forced Bentancur off with a horrendous attempt of a tackle.<\/p>\n CM: Douglas Luiz \u2013 7\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Broke up play and nipped into challenges much to the annoyance of Tottenham.<\/p>\n CM: Boubacar Kamara \u2013 6\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0A little more careless with the ball than his midfield partner but decent nonetheless.<\/p>\n LM: John McGinn \u2013 7\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Whether trying to create chances or mastering the dark arts, McGinn did every task required of him well.<\/p>\n CF: Moussa Diaby \u2013 5\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Got little out of his duels with Davies and came off at the break.<\/p>\n CF: Ollie Watkins \u2013 8\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0The match-winner wasn\u2019t to be denied after his first-half goal was chalked off. Asked a lot of questions of Spurs\u2019 makeshift centre-backs.<\/p>\n SUB: Youri Tielemans (46\u2032 for Diaby) \u2013 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n SUB: Leon Bailey (46\u2032 for Cash) \u2013 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n SUB: Jhon Duran (90\u2032 for Watkins) \u2013 N\/A<\/strong><\/p>\n SUB: Jacob Ramsey (90\u2032 for McGinn) \u2013 N\/A<\/strong><\/p>\n Subs not used: Robin Olsen (GK), Clement Lenglet, Alex Moreno, Tim Iroegbunam, Leander Dendoncker<\/em><\/p>\n Unai Emery \u2013 7\/10 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Aston Villa frustrated Spurs by any means possible and this time escaped with all three points.<\/p>\n
\nHow the game unfolded<\/h3>\n
\nTottenham player ratings (4-2-3-1)<\/h2>\n
![\"Giovani](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/01hg66cyfm9f7eh7rnas.jpg\" "\\"Giovani")
<\/figure>\n
\nSubstitutes<\/h3>\n
\nManager<\/h3>\n
\nAston Villa player ratings (4-4-2)<\/h2>\n
![\"Emiliano](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/01hg66614ehwk25dkgn3.jpg\" "\\"Emiliano")
<\/figure>\n
\nSubstitutes<\/h3>\n
\nManager<\/h3>\n