Aston Villa 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1:Back to the training ground for Tottenham Hotspur and there are no prizes for guessing what Juande Ramos has in store for his players. Having conceded three goals against Reading from set-pieces, Spurs again demonstrated their embarrassing inability to deal with dead-ball situations as Olof Mellberg, heading in from an Ashley Young free-kick, and Martin Laursen, nodding home Gareth Barry's corner, punished the visitors' benign defending.
It was an outcome Aston Villa merited but Tottenham, having roused from their first-half torpor, might easily have gleaned a point. Jermain Defoe, whom Villa manager Martin O'Neill has long courted, swept an acrobatic volley beyond Scott Carson in the 79th minute after Michael Dawson's cross caused consternation in the Villa area. Ramos must have thought his bold substitutions had brought reward but instead the Spurs manager was undone in familiar fashion.
This had been a difficult opening half for Ramos to digest. The six goals plundered against Reading on Saturday had taken the breath away but there were other reasons for the Spaniard to gasp here. Villa were dominant initially, the home team creating all the chances in a first half that finally yielded a breakthrough with four minutes remaining. The goalscorer, Mellberg, might have been a surprise but the same could not be said for the source.
Having marked space rather than players against Reading, Tottenham were once again undone by a dead ball. Young's inswinging free-kick was threatening but there could be no excuse for the freedom that Mellberg was afforded in the six-yard box. The Swede, heading past the stranded Paul Robinson, almost seemed embarrassed to take advantage.
Villa's lead was thoroughly deserved because Luke Moore, spinning adroitly but squirting his shot wide from eight yards, and Laursen, horribly blazing over from the same distance in the 24th minute, had wasted great opportunities to punish Spurs' lethargy earlier in the half.
How Dawson must have regretted his decision to declare himself fit. The central defender has been suffering from a migraine in recent weeks and this was no fixture to deliver a remedy. Gabriel Agbonlahor was too strong and too quick for him, the Villa forward's willingness to run the channels and make the most of his electric speed causing unease time and again. Clattering Agbonlahor into the advertisement hoardings was all Dawson could do.
There was of a glimpse of goal for the visitors in the 44th minute but Dimitar Berbatov, whose body language was once again bordering on suicidal, struck a powerful right-foot drive straight at Carson.
Ramos's dissatisfaction was clear - within 12 minutes of the restart the Tottenham manager had made his full quota of substitutions. Kevin-Prince Boateng, who had failed to track Mellberg on the opening goal, was withdrawn along with the ineffective Aaron Lennon and the hapless Younes Kaboul. The improvement was immediate and striking, with Robbie Keane and Jamie O'Hara both threatening.
It was now Villa's turn to retreat. Berbatov swept a reverse ball into the Villa area which picked out Keane's run. With Curtis Davies committed to going to ground, the Spurs striker dummied the defender and appeared to be fouled. Steve Tanner, the referee, waved away the appeals but Defoe made sure the reprieve was only temporary. It should have been the final act but Laursen had other ideas.
Ramos has reiterated his determination to hold on to Berbatov, who is being linked with several clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan. Ramos said: "Obviously Berbatov's agent is looking to do his business and has made his comments. But we are happy because we have the player on a contract, and we plan to keep him."