The intended New Year's fireworks in London were short-lived as Tottenham, hoping to end their habit of conceding the first goal, were foiled by Aston Villa, buoyed by Unai Emery's revival. The away side secured a 2-0 victory in the Premier League on Sunday, leaving Spurs to ponder on how to make good on their resolution in the coming months.
Antonio Conte’s side has conceded first in its last 10 matches, with Tottenham fifth in the standings following its latest disappointment.
Emiliano Buendia took advantage of an error by Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal to open the scoring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Douglas Luiz doubled the edge to secure a second consecutive away league victory for midtable Villa, which has won three of its last four league games.
Tottenham has endured a poor string of results, with just two victories in the club’s last seven games, undermining its push for a top-four finish.
Even though Conte guided the club into the Champions League last season, he described that achievement as a "miracle" and insisted he will continue to be realistic with the club.
"I know the (financial) reality because I am the coach," Conte said after the game. "If you ask me if I’m scared, I’m not. I believe in my work and these players, but don’t ask me for things I cannot promise you."
Spurs struggled to create chances against Villa, and players were booed off after a third home defeat in their last five games.
Liverpool can climb above Tottenham by winning at Brentford on Monday.
Chelsea was held 1-1 at Nottingham Forest in the other Premier League match on Sunday.
Tottenham loses
Tottenham was boosted by the return of World Cup finalists Cristian Romero and Lloris, but Dejan Kulusevski became the latest player unavailable to Conte due to a minor muscle injury.
The two goalkeepers in the World Cup final – France’s Lloris and Argentina hero Emiliano Martinez – were set to face each other again. Still, while Lloris started, Martinez was on the bench.
A lackluster opening half featured as many yellow cards as shots. Tottenham’s three center-backs received bookings in a rash nine-minute period.
Ashley Young was well placed to clear Harry Kane’s header off the line in the 40th minute after Ivan Perisic had rounded Robin Olsen in the Villa goal. The chance woke up Tottenham with Son Heung-min, who chucked away his protective mask midway through the half, curling a free-kick into the arms of the Swedish goalkeeper soon after.
Despite making it to the break without conceding, Tottenham’s habit of falling behind continued five minutes into the second period. Again, Lloris was at fault in his first appearance since the World Cup final, and Buendia profited.
Lloris spilled Luiz’s shot from range, and the alert Watkins reacted quickest to tee up Buendia, who slotted home from close range.
Kane fired wide on the half-volley soon after before he made a costly error to allow the away side to double its advantage in the 73rd. Boubacar Kamara won possession from the Spurs forward, and John McGinn exchanged passes with Luiz, who poked home.
Boost for Forest
Forest boosted its Premier League survival hopes with a point against Chelsea, whose troubles on the road continued.
Forest has beaten Liverpool and Tottenham at the City Ground this season and looked strong despite falling behind Raheem Sterling’s opener for Chelsea in the 16th minute.
Forest put in a fine second-half display which was rewarded with Serge Aurier’s equalizer just after the hour mark. Eighth-place Chelsea did at least avoid a fourth straight-away defeat but will require colossal improvement to close the seven-point gap in the top four.
"That’s the Premier League for you," Chelsea manager Graham Potter said.
"Away from home teams will not make it easy for you. On the one hand, you have players asking if they can have the players’ shirts, and before the game, they are thinking they are going to run through a brick wall to prove they can be good enough to beat Chelsea ... We have to be humble enough to know that is the challenge we face and we have to do better."
On Saturday, Arsenal stretched its league leads to seven points with a 4-2 win at Brighton, while closest challengers Manchester City and Newcastle dropped points.