By Melody Gross 
Aston Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon, at home in London, by a score of 2-0, in the opening meeting in the English Premier League on the first day of 2023, in the 18th round.
Unai Emery’s side have completed what has been an exciting rebound this season since the Spanish coach’s arrival – in the Premier League, they beat Mann. United, Brighton and now Tottenham, having lost “only” to Liverpool (excluding Man. United, but for the League Cup) – in the second half.
A shot from distance by Lloris and Ollie Watkins took the opportunity to serve Emiliano Buendia, allowing the Argentine, in the 50th minute, to open the scoring for Birmingham (0-1). And the “flan” increased to 0-2 in the 73rd minute, when Scotsman John McGinn found Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz in the “Tottenham” area, and the South American, on the move, received the ball with his right foot and made it. Don’t give him any chances to the London goalkeeper (0-2).
With this victory, Aston Villa, who finished 12th at the start of the round, overtook Crystal Palace in the table: it is now 11th, with 21 points from 17 matches.
A curiosity: It was the 32-year-old Swede Robin Olsen who defended the visitors’ goal, and not the Argentine world champion goalkeeper Emiliano (Depo) Martinez, whose late return after the festivities in Argentina justified the selection of Unai Emery, who had previously warned the South American that he Not very happy with the delay in returning…
As for Tottenham, who before the match honored another world champion from his ranks and who shone for Argentina in the World Cup in Qatar, in November and December 2022, the defender of his heart Romero – in honor of another former star and glory ‘Tottenham’, his compatriot Osvaldo Ardiles, is still the world champion in the “Alvicelist Mas” team. ” in 1978, who won the UEFA Cup in 1984 for “Tottenham” – on a black tide.
This was the seventh consecutive match for the team coached by Antonio Conte to concede two or more goals, synonymous with the defensive permeability of London, which fell to fifth place, with the same 30 points, but now in 17 matches.
Tottenham see Mann. United overtook him in the battle for the last place that would give them access to the Champions League in 2023/24: fourth place, where they are now the ‘Red Devils’, with Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, after winning on December 31 to Wolves (1- 0), with a goal from Rashford, and thanks to the defeat of “Tottenham” that day, they are now three points ahead of London – 32 points, against 29 for Tottenham.
Antonio Conte’s team now has sixth-placed Liverpool just two points behind: the “Reds” have 28 points against the Londoners’ 30.
See goals:
“Good Ebening”?? This is Aston Villa from Emery, beware.
??????????????? @ Premier League | @tweet 0 x 2 @employee
?? ?????????????????? ??????: The first monthly fee is offered by ELEVEN when you join the annual pass
?? https://t.co/7qOD0Miooh# Premiere pic.twitter.com/Q7Q7LcNBtd– ELEVEN Portugal (ElevenSports_PT) January 1, 2023
Loris??
??????????????? @ Premier League | @tweet 0 x 1 @employee
?? ?????????????????? ??????: The first monthly fee is offered by ELEVEN when you join the annual pass
?? https://t.co/7qOD0Miooh# Premiere pic.twitter.com/hbKsTTZcSV– ELEVEN Portugal (ElevenSports_PT) January 1, 2023