Venables remembered as Aston Villa comes from behind to defeat Tottenham
On the day dedicated to honoring former player and manager Terry Venables, Aston Villa staged a comeback to defeat Tottenham Hotspur.
The passing of the former England manager was disclosed less than two hours before the match, prompting a minute’s applause in honor of a man who secured the FA Cup with Spurs as both a player in 1967 and a manager in 1991.
Giovani lo Celso’s deflected opening goal appeared to rejuvenate the early-season leaders, aiming to rebound after their undefeated streak was halted by consecutive defeats before the international break.
However, Pau Torres equalized with a header late into added time in the first half, and Ollie Watkins secured Villa’s comeback by slotting in his 12th goal of the season.
Despite Spurs’ efforts to level the score, they couldn’t prevent a third consecutive defeat, with the noteworthy detail that they held the lead in each of these matches.
Tottenham, who were leading the Premier League table after their initial 10 games, now find themselves beneath Villa in the standings. The victory in North London propelled Unai Emery’s team into fourth place.
Spurs made to pay for missed chances
The announcement of Venables’ passing coincided with the arrival of the first supporters at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with images of him displayed on television screens in the concourses and on the large screen inside the venue.
Despite winning only two major honors since Venables led them to the FA Cup in 1991, Tottenham’s positive start under Ange Postecoglou has sparked optimism about ending their 15-year trophy drought.
Known for his innovative and attack-minded coaching style, Venables would likely have appreciated Spurs’ enterprising play under Postecoglou. Despite recent losses, the team maintained this philosophy against Villa.
Postecoglou made four changes to his side, some due to injuries, and one of the newly introduced players opened the scoring after an energetic beginning. Lo Celso unleashed a powerful shot from the edge of the box, with a slight deflection off Diego Carlos catching Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez off guard.
The Argentine midfielder netted his first goal for Spurs since September 2021, following two loan spells at Villarreal, marking only his second in the Premier League.
Earlier in the match, Destiny Udogie had a shot go over the bar, Dejan Kulusevski hit the post, and Son Heung-min missed a chance from Brennan Johnson’s delivery.
Following Lo Celso’s goal, Kulusevski narrowly missed the target with a curled shot, and Son had three goals disallowed for offside. In their pursuit of an equalizer after Villa’s comeback, Ben Davies headed just over, and Brennan Johnson’s attempt was thwarted by Martinez.
Postecoglou can find encouragement in the performance of his depleted side but will likely rue the missed opportunities that proved costly for Spurs.