Ryan Mason makes honest Aston Villa admission after Tottenham slip up

Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive includes Ryan Mason's reaction to Tottenham Hotspur's Villa Park setback

Ryan Mason was left frustrated by Tottenham Hotspur’s sluggish start at Villa Park after Aston Villa made up ground in the race for Europe.

Jacob Ramsey fired Villa ahead inside eight minutes before Douglas Luiz netted the second with a free-kick in the 72nd minute. Harry Kane scored a late penalty to create some panic in B6 but the Villans held on to draw level on points with sixth-placed Spurs.

Ramsey’s goal was the eighth time Spurs have conceded in the opening 20 minutes during their last five Premier League matches. Caretaker boss Mason cursed his team’s slow start and admitted Villa were the better side in the first half.

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"It's disappointing,” he said. “Obviously the start is difficult to take - it's happened too many times this season going a goal down very early

"First half, to be honest, I thought they were better than us. I didn't think Fraser [Forster] had to do anything in goal in terms of pulling off a load of saves. In the second half we gained a little bit more control and we had our big moment at 1-0 but the keeper has pulled off an outstanding save.

"If you want to be a big team and compete at the top of the table you cannot give teams a goal head start. It's very difficult in this league to win games of football. You have to earn everything.

"We understand today was a big game [in terms of qualifying for Europe] and I'm very disappointed in the outcome. But we do have two games to put it right. Hopefully we can respond well and put it right."

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