By Victor Kanayo
Aston Villa increased the pressure on Tottenham Manager Antonio Conte with victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday in one of English Premier League (EPL) matches.
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 have now won only two of their past seven games and have fallen out of the Premier League top four.
Villa have won back-to-back away league games as they improve under Unai Emery.
It appeared this game 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 game 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.
Later on, Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Chelsea at the City Ground but might have taken all three points after dominating the second half of an absorbing game.
Chelsea took the lead after 16 minutes when Willy Boly unfortunately deflected Christian Pulisic’s cross over Dean Henderson and against the crossbar, with Raheem Sterling smashing home a half-volley from the rebound.
It looked likely to be a straight-forward victory for Chelsea but Forest came out with a vigour the visitors couldn’t match in the second half.
Both teams rise a position with the draw. Chelsea are up to eighth, while Forest are now third-bottom.
