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| Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender Cristian Romero (L) vies with Aston Villa's English striker Ollie Watkins (R) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on January 1, 2023. |
Aston Villa increased the pressure on Tottenham manager Antonio Conte with victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
An error by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in his first game back since the World Cup allowed Emiliano Buendia to score before Douglas Luiz doubled the lead.
A lacklustre Spurs, who fell out of the Premier League top four on Saturday, have now won only two of their past seven matches.
Villa have won back-to-back away league games as they improve under Unai Emery.
It appeared this contest would pit the two keepers who faced off in the 2022 World Cup final penalty shootout against each other, but Argentina’s spot-kick hero Emiliano Martinez had to settle for a place on the Villa bench.
It was a poor match all round for returning finalists. Spurs’ World Cup-winning defender Cristian Romero was shown a yellow card in the first half – and fortunate not to get a second late on after barging Philippe Coutinho – while Lloris endured a shocking moment in the 50th minute.
He spilled Luiz’s long-range effort and Ollie Watkins squared the rebound for Buendia to slam home.
Luiz started and finished the move for 2-0, sliding a pass to John McGinn before racing on to receive the return and chipping cutely past Lloris.
