Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins hits the winner in against the run of play as Spurs lose again

Quite what Terry Venables would have made of it all is hard to fathom. Venables as a coach worked hard on defensive shape and yet will always be remembered for producing teams that played with freedom, fluency and adventure.

There was certainly no shortage of that on display from both teams on a day when tributes were paid to a man who won the FA Cup winner as a player and a manager with Tottenham, and whose death at the age of 80 was confirmed before kick-off.

What followed was a breathless commitment to flair and creativity, an intense contest won by Aston Villa, the winning goal scored by Ollie Watkins.

It eased Unai Emery’s team above Spurs and into the top four and left Ange Postecoglou to digest a third successive defeat, starting with the meltdown against Chelsea and with a trip to Manchester City next.

There was another injury blow, too, for Postecoglou with Rodrigo Bentancur forced off in the midst of a breathless first half, which made an explosive start when Matty Cash miscued the first chance of the game inside a minute.

Destiny Udogie fired over when clean through, at the other end, Dejan Kulusevski hit a post and Pau Torres headed wide when he should have scored.

All this within the first five minutes, arguably not that much of a surprise considering the team Postecoglou picked in response to his injury crisis, with no recognised centre-halves or holding midfielders.

Emerson Royal and Ben Davies were pair in the centre of defence with Bentancur in midfield, flanked by Giovani Lo Celso, in the James Maddison role, and Dejan Kulusevski, in the Pape Matar Sarr role.

Postecoglou made more logical changes last time out against Wolverhampton Wanderers but left Molineux after a defeat feeling that his team had played it safe, so he started with Eric Dier and Pierre Emile Hojbjerg back on the bench and went firmly onto the front foot.

Initially, to great effect. Spurs burst through Villa’s high line to create a wealth of openings before Lo Celso found the net, midway through the first half, from a corner that skidded out to him at the edge of the box.

He struck it sweetly but it was helped past Martinez by a big deflection off the right knee of Diego Carlos. It was his first Premier League goal for three years. His last goal came on loan at Villarreal, where he played for Villa boss Unai Emery.

Watkins thought he had equalised almost immediately with a header from a free-kick delivered by Lucas Digne but it was ruled out for offside after a three-minute VAR check. It was tight.

When play resumed, Cash took his frustrations out on Bentancur with an ugly late tackle. There was no attempt to play the ball. It was an old-school hack by the Poland international and although Bentancur tried to continue, he soon limped off.

It was a big for Tottenham, already deprived of so many players. Yves Bissouma and Cristian Romero banned and Sarr, Maddison, Richarlison, Micky van de Ven, Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon all injured.

And there was needle in the contest from this point. Spurs became distracted in their determination to get Cash sent off or Boubacar Kamara, who was also booked during this niggly phase.

Hojbjerg replaced Bentancur, and released Heung-min Son to score but the flag went up and he was offside. Kulusevski then curled a shot wide before Villa levelled with a Torres header from a free-kick swerved into the penalty area by Douglas Luiz.

The delivery was simply astonishing and if Spurs ever looked vulnerable for their absence of centre-halves it was when defending set-pieces. This time, the visitors survived a VAR check and the goal would stand.

The second half produced more of these breathless escapades. Crosses flashed across the Villa goal without a finish and Son had another goal ruled out for offside, this one clear but they lived dangerously at the other end.

Guglielmo Vicario has barely made a mistake since his arrival this year but let a shot by Leon Bailey slither through his hands. The Italian goalkeeper was relieved when it rebounded his way off the post.

He came out of his goal, attempting to clear another attack with a diving header but only found John McGinn, who tried to find the empty net with a first-time finish on the half-volley from 35 yards.

McGinn’s audacious effort sliced off wide of the target but Watkins soon fired Villa ahead, linking up with Youri Tielemans and driving low past Vicario from an angle. It was his 12th goal of the season for his club.

Martinez made excellent saves to protect the lead, pushing a volley by Porro wide and a long-range effort by Hojbjrg. Ben Davies header over from corner. There were saves by Vicario to stop Villa stretching ahead but Tottenham could not find away back.