Aston Villa scored two stoppage-time goals to complete a late turnaround as they won 3-1 against Crystal Palace, who were without their unwell manager Roy Hodgson.
The 76-year-old was taken ill on Saturday morning and did not travel to Villa Park, but looked like he was going to receive the perfect tonic as his side led through Odsonne Edouard’s early second-half goal.
But Jhon Duran fired home an exquisite equaliser in the 87th minute and then Douglas Luiz struck from the penalty spot in the eighth minute of added time after the decision had survived a rigorous pitchside monitor check by referee Darren England.
Leon Bailey’s goal two minutes later sealed what was a worthy victory for the hosts, who bossed the majority of the game.
It was their ninth home league win in a row, which equals their best post-war record as things continue to look up under Unai Emery.
Palace did not say how poorly their manager was before the game, but did confirm he would be in touch with first-team coaches Paddy McCarthy and Ray Lewington throughout the encounter.
But his mood would not have been improved after the chaotic end to the match where his side conceded three times in 13 minutes.
Palace also endured a tough opening, with Villa’s pace and running causing them problems.
They did not make it easy for themselves either and Joel Ward presented Ollie Watkins with a golden chance to open the scoring as he misplaced a pass and the Villa striker went clean through on goal but Sam Johnstone produced a good save to rescue his captain.
Hodgson would not have enjoyed what he was seeing remotely and it looked like they fell behind in the 34th minute.
Moussa Diaby, living on the shoulder of the Palace backline, was superbly picked out by Pau Torres and the France international raced clear and clinically fired home.
However, he was marginally ruled offside by VAR and Palace again escaped.
There were more sighs of relief soon after as Matty Cash miskicked his shot after good work by Nicolo Zaniolo and then the Poland right-back headed over another good chance.
Palace had barely threatened in the first half, but went ahead inside two minutes of the restart.
Jean-Philippe Mateta spun Torres on the right and sent in an inviting cross for Edouard to slide past Emiliano Martinez, who had slipped but would have been out of position anyway.
It was the 25-year-old striker’s fourth Premier League goal of the season and gave Palace a lead out of nowhere.
Palace threatened to build on that advantage and should have gone 2-0 up on the hour-mark but Ward could only divert Joachim Andersen’s header wide of the post from close range.
They could have done with that going in as Villa launched an assault in search of an equaliser.
Duran fired straight at Johnstone with his first touch after coming on before the hosts came within inches of levelling.
Watkins and Bailey both had shots blocked in quick succession and the ball again went to Watkins, and his first-time curling effort hit a post before rebounding off Johnstone and just wide.
The breakthrough eventually came three minutes from time as Duran superbly controlled Lucas Digne’s cross on his chest and then lashed in a fierce left-footed shot.
Five minutes later they were awarded a penalty when Chris Richards brought down Watkins, with referee England taking nearly three minutes in front of the monitor to decide a foul had been committed after the Palace defender impeded his opponent.
Luiz stroked home from 12 yards and then Bailey sealed the win at the end after converting from close range.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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