Watkins fires Villa into 4th as Spurs pay tribute to Venables

LONDON: Ollie Watkins fired Aston Villa into fourth place in the Premier League as they came from behind to win 2-1 at Tottenham on a day the hosts paid tribute to former boss Terry Venables. 

Unai Emery’s side trailed to Giovani Lo Celso’s first goal of the season in the first half in north London. But Pau Torres equalized just before the break and Watkins’ 12th goal this term wrapped up an impressive result for revitalized Villa. 

Villa moved above Tottenham into fourth, with Ange Postecoglou’s team falling two points behind them in fifth after a third successive defeat stalled their early-season momentum. 

Tottenham have squandered the lead in all three of their defeats, but Postecoglou could point to the injuries that have robbed him of several key players including James Maddison. 

Villa’s resilient third away win in their last 11 league games underlined the improvements made by Emery since he replaced the sacked Steven Gerrard last season. 

Sitting just two points behind leaders Arsenal, Villa have won four of their last five league games to spark genuine hopes of a top four challenge. 

As a innovative former manager of England, Barcelona and Tottenham, where he won the FA Cup in 1991, Venables would have appreciated the attacking quality of both teams on the day he passed away aged 80. 

With both teams wearing black armbands, a picture of Venables was displayed on each of the big screens during a minute of applause in celebration of his life before kick-off. 

Tottenham were on top in the opening stages and Dejan Kulusevski blasted against the post after showing nimble footwork to prise open the Villa defense. 

Postecoglou’s men were back on the offensive as Bryan Gil was denied by a fine save from