Aston Villa increased the pressure on under-fire Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank with a battling victory in their FA Cup third-round meeting.
The visitors established the platform for the success by taking a two-goal lead at half-time, with Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers on target.
Spurs, who lost Richarlison to a 31st-minute hamstring injury, improved vastly after the break and Wilson Odobert gave them hope when he pulled a goal back nine minutes after the restart.
But Villa held the hosts at bay to send the eight-time winners out, with ugly scenes at the final whistle as players from both sides clashed, Spurs players seemingly unhappy with Rogers’ celebrations in front of the elated visiting support.
Unai Emery’s men were dominant early on, Buendia taking advantage of good work by Donyell Malen to end a slick move with a powerful finish in the 22nd minute.
Rogers doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time, finding space and time in the area from Buendia’s clever flick to fire a low strike past Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs fans reacted furiously at the half-time whistle, but were encouraged by the attacking intent shown by Frank’s side in the second period.
Odobert gave them a lifeline with a low drive beyond Marco Bizot for his second goal for the club.
Spurs piled on the pressure, but failed to test Bizot enough and Pedro Porro kicked off the line to deny Buendia at the other end.
As they celebrated a place in the fourth round, Spurs’ crisis deepened with just two wins in 13 games.
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