Premier League: Spurs' nemesis Emery strikes again
Tottenham needed to improve after dropping out of the top four. While not trailing at halftime was an improvement over their previous five games, the Spurs still need to be more cohesive
Conte could be outThis was best demonstrated after 18 minutes when Son Heung-min pulled off the World Cup protective mask and hurled it away in anger.
A frustrated-looking Harry Kane advanced deep into midfield to retrieve the ball after barely touching it in the early going.
The England captain came the closest to starting the scoring in the first half.
After being forced wide by goalkeeper Robin Olsen after being sent in over the top, Ivan Perisic skillfully dinked a cross back over for Kane to head down. Ashley Young diverted the attempt behind for a corner after initially playing Perisic onside.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The story of an impressive <a href="https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AVFCOfficial</a> victory 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/Oracle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Oracle</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TOTAVL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TOTAVL</a> <a href="https://t.co/CSxibq0t5l">pic.twitter.com/CSxibq0t5l</a></p>— Premier League (@premierleague) <a href="https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/1609642597160566786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Soon after Buendia's goal, Perisic had a chance to score when the ball fell to him from 15 yards out, and he scooped it over the crossbar.
Spurs, though, unintentionally set a club record by giving up at least two goals in seven straight Premier League games.
They appeared lifeless in attack; Bryan Gil, who started the game for the first time in the league in place of the injured Dejan Kulusevski, was substituted just before the hour after a lacklustre performance, and Conte looked more uncomfortable as his team headed towards yet another unsettling loss.
Since Emery took over, Villa have won back-to-back away league games. After the game, he remarked, "We had alternatives in the offensive third, Spurs was pressuring us, and that helped our confidence. It was great to add three extra points."
At the final whistle, the Spurs were jeered off, and some supporters yelled insults at chairman Daniel Levy.