When Mathys Tel stretched out a leg to divert Dejan Kulusevski's curling cross past Emiliano Martinez on Sunday it was not enough to rescue the FA Cup fourth round tie but it did keep one unexpected Tottenham statistic going.
The 19-year-old had endured a tough night at Villa Park on his full debut, along with his new Tottenham team-mates, as their hosts went ahead through a Jacob Ramsey goal just 57 seconds in and then doubled their advantage in the second half with a close range Morgan Rogers effort.
Then in added time, with Tel having switched to play through the centre of the attack, the young Frenchman made a well-timed run in front of his defender and knocked home Kulusevski's cross from the right wing. Spurs huffed and puffed in the remaining minutes and could not find a last gasp leveller to force the game into extra-time.
What Tel's goal did do though was continue an unusual statistic that Liverpool remain the only side in all competitions this season to have beaten Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham by more than one goal.
Despite being the joint-third top goalscorers in the Premier League, Spurs have had far too many defeats in the competition this season, with 13 of their 24 games lost, but every game apart from the 6-3 defeat to Liverpool, has been by a narrow scoreline.
Postecoglou will be hoping that when he gets those 11 unavailable players back again, the narrow defeats will start turning into more positive results.
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