Tottenham Hotspur have recorded a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa at White Hart Lane to make it 10 games without defeat in the Premier League.
First-half goals from Mousa Dembele and Dele Alli put Spurs on their way, before Jordan Ayew restored some hope for the visiting side in the final 10 minutes.
Harry Kane scored in added time to kill off any Villa momentum that had been building, however, condemning the visitors to their worst league start in some 127 years.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at how the 90 minutes of action unfolded in North London.
Match statistics
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Shots: 17
On target: 6
Possession: 62%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 6
ASTON VILLA
Shots: 13
On target: 2
Possession: 38%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 15
Was the result fair?
While trailing by two goals at the interval may have seemed like a harsh scoreline at the time for Villa, there is no denying that Spurs were good value for their victory in the end. For 80 minutes of this match there only looked to be one winner, until the Villans finally managed to emerge from their shell to set up an entertaining finale.
Large parts of this game will be quickly forgotten due to the slack play and slow tempo from both sides, which Tottenham largely profited from by scoring at the beginning and end of the first half. From that point on chances were kept to a minimum, up until a frantic 10-minute period that saw two more goals added and plenty of goalmouth action in front of the onlooking Remi Garde.
Tottenham Hotspur's performance
It is fair to say that Mauricio Pochettino would have been absolutely livid with his players had they failed to see this one through. Villa offered next to nothing in attack for large parts, allowing the Lilywhites to take control of proceedings and pretty much turn attention towards a big Europa League meeting with Anderlecht on Thursday night.
Dembele took his early chance well, brushing aside Ciaran Clark - who really should have been doing better - and tucking the ball through the legs of Brad Guzan. Bar a Kane shot that had to be pushed over the bar by Villa's American stopper, Alli's well-taken volley was the only other memorable moment of a largely disappointing first half for the neutral.
Spurs would not mind that one bit, though, with the three points all that matters. Having seen out the late Villa scare, which included a Rudy Gestede header that hit the side-netting and another drive by Ayew going narrowly over the bar, the hosts rounded things off in brilliant style with a fine team goal. It is now 10 unbeaten for Pochettino's charges, whose current form is only bettered by next week's opponents Arsenal.
Aston Villa performance
No matter which way you look at it - one point since the opening day, no points since August - incoming boss Garde has a huge task on his hands at Villa. The final quarter of the game showed that these Villa players are not willing to give up, granted, but that cannot mask what was another poor display up until that point.
Scott Sinclair looked to buck the trend when slaloming his way into a central position to test Guzan in the first half, with that proving to be his side's only attempt on target before and after Ayew's eventual consolation goal. That is not good enough for a side who, for 83 minutes, were chasing a route back into the game.
This is now officially the proud club's worst start to a season in their 127-year history, leaving them four points adrift of safety with nearly a third of the campaign played. Villa have also now tasted defeat in nine of their opening 11 games - a losing run that only Crystal Palace have managed to recover from and survive in the Premier League era.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Danny Rose: Two assists for the full-back; the first came just two minutes and 22 seconds into the game and the second followed later in the half. In fairness, both Dembele and Alli still had plenty to do after being picked out, but there is no taking away assists number two and three for the season from Rose.
Biggest gaffe
Hugo Lloris is one of the Premier League's finest goalkeepers, but he can certainly leave hearts in mouths at times. After nearly being caught out in the first half, the Frenchman once more raced out when Villa were enjoying their best spell of the match, which allowed Gestede to nearly head home into an empty net when getting to the ball ahead of the Spurs keeper. In the end the attempt ended in the side-netting, but it was a real scare for both Lloris and his side.
Referee performance
Mike Dean did not have a great deal to do in truth, but his failure to blow the whistle when Ashley Westwood went down with a facial injury in the first half was rather bizarre. The Villa midfielder was shaken up by the whack to the face, eventually leaving the field under the advice of the visiting side's backroom staff.
What next?
Tottenham Hotspur: With their Europa League campaign hanging in the balance, Spurs will need to be at full strength to overcome Anderlecht on Thursday night. Three days later comes the short trip to the Emirates Stadium to face fellow in-form side Arsenal.
Aston Villa: With their losing run now standing at seven league games in a row, the West Midlands outfit will not be too pleased to see league leaders Manchester City visit Villa Park next weekend.
Daniel Lewis
