Caretaker boss Ryan Mason denied managerless Tottenham are drifting after a potentially damaging 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.
Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz struck to move Villa level on points in the Premier League with their sixth-placed visitors.
Harry Kane’s late penalty gave the scoreline a flattering look as aimless Spurs were second best throughout.
Mason, Spurs’ third manager of the season, is now battling to keep them in the European spots.
They are without a head coach and sporting director after the departures of Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and Fabio Paratici but Mason insisted the club is still fighting.
He said: “The outside world is the outside world. When you are consistent and strong inside that transfers outside. It is a difficult moment but everyone is pulling together.
“The environment you try to set within is the most important thing.
“To go a goal down so early again, it’s happened too many times this season. We need to be better. It’s a very disappointing day.
“I felt we were more of a threat in the second half and their keeper has pulled off an outstanding save at 1-0 which could have changed the flow of the game.
“We understand we have two important games and it’s still in our hands, what we want to achieve, we need to learn and try to be better.
“We’ve come here against a good side and you have to understand you have to suffer as a team and then the game changes, like we saw in the second half, but you can’t get to that point being a goal down.”
Ramsey opened the scoring after just eight minutes, finding the corner from Leon Bailey’s cross, as Villa dominated.
Tottenham were dreadful and needed Fraser Forster to keep it at 1-0 when he saved from Bailey after Pedro Porro’s mistake.
Emi Buendia hit the bar before the break and was denied by Forster following the restart, with John McGinn shooting wide.
But Spurs were almost gifted a way back when Oliver Skipp robbed Luiz to tee up Kane only for to see his shot beaten away by Emi Martinez.
Dejan Kulusevski curled wide but Villa found some daylight with 18 minutes left when Luiz curled in a 25-yard free-kick which Forster could only help into the top corner.
It seemed like the hosts would cruise to victory but they were forced to sweat in stoppage time when Kane went down under Martinez’s challenge and – after a long VAR delay – referee Peter Bankes awarded the penalty which the England captain scored.
Villa remain in the hunt for a Europa League spot, although boss Unai Emery admitted he did not think it was achievable when he replaced Steven Gerrard in October.
He said: “No, it was a process but I told the players if we can have chances to go there we are going to try to get it. If we didn’t get it, it’s not a fail. It’s a process.
“We played with a high level in the first half and kept our identity. We deserved more in the first half, maybe. Keeping focus in 90 minutes is not easy and we were playing a very good team.
“In the second half they played better but at the end we deserved to win. We want to connect with our supporters, get the energy and give them our energy and this is the sixth win in a row here.
“I was very, very happy in the first half. We need to be consistent but today we played very well and the players are showing their commitment.”
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Amorim wants Man Utd players to be inspired by club's history
Ruben Amorim wants his Manchester United players to be inspired by the club's history as he bids to bring a winning mentality back to Old Trafford.
Amorim, taking over at the Premier League club following the departure of Erik ten Hag, was speaking in his first interview with the club after a tour of their home venue.
The Portuguese tactician had visited Old Trafford earlier in the week and met a group of supporters, as well as the women's team's vice-captain, England star Ella Toone.
"When you come [to Old Trafford], it's so different. You see the trophies, you see the tragedy that we have as a club. The history," said Amorim.
The 39-year-old added the manner in which the club defied the odds to succeed under Matt Busby after the Munich air disaster in 1958 should be a particular source of inspiration.
"This kind of strength, I think it's important to put in our team. When the players come here, they should take the stadium tour all the time. I think this is very important to do," Amorim said.
"It's normal if you go a lot of years without winning, you start losing that feeling. So I think we need to put all the players doing the same thing, to regain that feeling.
"We haven't won the Premier League for a long time. But if you ask, United is the biggest club in England.
"So this is part of history, it is not now. So we have to address that, to show that and to try to win again."
Asked what his footballing philosophy is, the former midfielder said it all comes down to being a team.
"The team is the most important thing for me. And if you work as a team, then the talent individually is going to shine," he said.
"But if I have to explain the importance of everything, it is the character, the way we fight, the way we play, and we must have an identity.
New Man Utd boss Amorim says he must win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said he will need to win matches in order to earn time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details.
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity."
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United debut.
But the former Portugal international added that having a young squad will not be an excuse if he fails to get the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
