Ange Postecoglou suffered another damaging defeat on his quest to deliver Tottenham a trophy as Aston Villa dumped his side out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory.
Postecoglou said earlier this season “I always win things in my second year” but injury-hit Spurs now only have the Europa League left to lift after being beaten in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Thursday by Liverpool.
The Tottenham boss, who was without 11 first-team players due to injury, had a wry smile on his face when goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky let Jacob Ramsey’s shot through his hands to give Villa the lead inside the opening 60 seconds.
But he was left stoney-faced after Morgan Rogers prodded in a second in the 64th minute to inflict a 21st defeat in Spurs’ last 46 games despite Mathys Tel’s well-taken injury-time consolation that produced a nervy last few moments.
Villa’s wastefulness kept Spurs in the tie at the break, hitting the target with just four efforts from 11, while their only available centre-back Ezri Konsa limped off.
Kinksy, after his early mistake, also helped make sure Villa took a narrow lead into half-time by denying Leon Bailey and Rogers, and Heung-Min Son should have equalised when he sent a close-range shot straight at the sprawling Emiliano Martinez.
Jacob Ramsey fires Aston Villa into an early lead against Spurs
The visitors improved when Postecoglou brought on Yves Bissouma for teenager Mikey Moore at half-time and pressed high onto the Villa midfield.
Villa, though, still had the biggest chance after the restart when Kinksy spread himself to deny Ramsey when one-on-one – and soon they had a second from Rogers’ tap-in.
With the result seemingly not in doubt, Unai Emery brought on loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio for the final 25 minutes. The Villa supporters sang Rashford’s name while Asensio combined well with Rogers, who flashed a shot wide.
Marcus Rashford chases a Kevin Dando pass
Spurs defender Kevin Danso missed a sitter late on which proved even more costly when Tel guided a first-time effort into the net after Kinksy had once again denied Ramsey from piling even more misery on Postecoglou and chairman Daniel Levy, who watched from the stands as the away supporters routinely chanted for his resignation.
‘Sympathy for Spurs is wearing thin’
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:
Tottenham have injuries but so do Aston Villa. Is top-level management not about being able to fix problems that arise throughout the season? Adapt or die. Find a way.
Well, Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou don’t adapt. The Spurs boss yet again pointed to his injury list in the aftermath of this defeat but the sympathy act is wearing a little thin now.
Villa ended the match without a fit or available centre-back to pick from after Ezri Konsa joined their long list of absentees yet Unai Emery found a way to get his team playing his football and still protected their potential vulnerabilities at the centre of their defence. That’s how to fix problems.
Tottenham are 14th in Premier League – 16 points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and are now out of both domestic cup competitions. The final three months of this season are going to be a slog for watchers of this football team with nothing domestically to play for.
It truly is Europa League or bust for Tottenham’s season now, with or without Postecoglou in the dugout.
Ange: We look forward to resetting
Ange Postecoglou shows his frustration after Spurs concede an opening minute goal at Villa Park
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou speaking to the BBC:
“Nothing really changes. We’ve got a couple of weeks now without midweek games.
“This group of players have done an unbelievable job for two and a half months. I can’t praise them highly enough for the effort they’ve put in for a small group of players playing twice a week since the middle of November.
“There’ll be an opportunity to recover now and get some players back over the next couple of weeks. We look forward to resetting and finishing the season strong.
“Europe is important to us and we’re in a great spot there. We get some players back in the next couple of weeks as it gives us a rest and respite for a group that have been doing it for the past two months.
“We had 11 first-team players out today. Take that out of any team for one game and they’d struggle but we’ve been doing it for two-and-a-half months. We’ll get some players back and that’ll help.”
Emery: FA Cup means a lot
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery:
“I’m very happy for our supporters because this competition means a lot to them, to Aston Villa.
“We were here two years ago and we didn’t get to the fifth round like we did today. How we got it was fantastic because I think we played a very good match. We performed, collectively and individually, very good.
“The players we added in the last month have started helping us a lot and we’re very motivated and excited to watch again how we can recover our capacity, our performances in the next weeks and months playing in different competitions – FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League.
“After the result, which is most important for us, it’s how we played and how we got our performance, collectively and individually, that I am happy with. I’m very demanding about how we can get better for the next matches in Premier League, the next matches in Champions League and the next matches in FA Cup.”
Villa new boys impress on debut
Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe:
Progressing into the fifth round is exciting enough but the cameo performances from new signings Marco Asensio and Rashford have left Aston Villa fans desperate to see more.
“This is probably the best squad we’ve ever had,” Ramsey said.
“You see the bench with (Donyell) Malen starting and Rashford coming on. The squad depth is unbelievable.
“The starting players have to raise their game as the players coming on are a big threat.”
Despite only spending a few training sessions with their new squad after signing in the final days of the January transfer window, Rashford and Asensio linked-up seamlessly with their team-mates and were unlucky to walk away without assists to their name.
Emery now has an abundance of world-class talent at his disposal but the same problem he experienced with Jhon Duran prior to his move to Al Nassr now presents itself again: how can he use them all together?
However, in terms of problems in football, it is the best one to have.
