Aston Villa came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League on the day they remembered former player and manager Terry Venables.
The ex-England manager’s death was announced less than two hours before kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday, and a minute’s applause was held to pay tribute to a man who won the FA Cup with Spurs as a player in 1967 and as manager in 1991.
Giovani lo Celso’s deflected opener looked to have got the early season pacesetters back on track after their unbeaten start came to an end with back-to-back defeats before the international break.
But Pau Torres levelled with a header deep into first-half added time before Ollie Watkins slotted in his 12th goal of the season to seal Villa’s turnaround.
Spurs pushed for an equaliser but could not avoid a third straight defeat — and they have taken the lead in each one of those games.
Tottenham were top of the Premier League table after their first 10 games but are now below Villa after victory in north London sent Unai Emery’s team above them into fourth place.
Ramsdale praised
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale had shown courage after getting away with two first-half errors in the side’s 1-0 victory at Brentford on Saturday.
Kai Havertz grabbed the spotlight with a late headed winner to send Arsenal top of the table but Ramsdale, given his first start in the league since September, was the talking point of the match.
Ramsdale’s demotion to the bench behind David Raya has caused some surprise but he was given his chance to shine and almost blew it in comical fashion in a stuttering first half.
Ramsdale recovered his poise in the second half but his display will not have filled Arteta with confidence. However, the Spaniard sprang to Ramsdale’s defence.
“Courage. He has big courage and big personality and that’s what we need,” Arteta told reporters.
“This is football. I’m so happy with the team.”
Arsenal were not at their best and a draw would have been a fair result but Havertz, who came off the bench, sparked celebrations with his second goal of the season.
With inputs from Reuters
