Tottenham charged by the FA after angry brawl in Aston Villa defeat

Tottenham and Aston Villa players were involved in an angry brawl

The FA have charged Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa with misconduct following their clash in the FA Cup third round. Morgan Rogers fired Unai Emery's side to a 2-1 victory on Saturday, dumping the Lilywhites out of the competition.

Upon the final whistle, Ollie Watkins celebrated the win in front of the travelling Villa fans, sparking a fiery reaction from Joao Palhinha. The Tottenham midfielder pushed the opposition striker, and he was quickly confronted by Morgan Rogers and Lamare Bogarde.

Players and staff from either side stormed onto the scene, igniting a mass brawl. An official statement from a spokesperson at the FA reads: "Tottenham Hotspur FC and Aston Villa FC have been charged with misconduct following their FA Cup match on Saturday 10 January.

"It’s alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players and/or officials did not behave in an improper and/or provocative way after the final whistle. Aston Villa FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC have until Friday 16 January to provide a response."

Speaking to reporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after the game, Thomas Frank accused Watkins of provoking Palhinha . The Dane said: "I don’t think so. I guess you have seen the situation through?

"I just saw it to be sure I saw what I saw. Of course, it’s all about keeping a cool head. The players gave everything, everything out there, (but) losing a tight game, season not going perfect and I think Ollie is very provoking.

Ollie Watkins celebrated Aston Villa's win over Tottenham Hotspur in front of Joao Palhinha (Image: Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images)

"The way he is going down to celebrate in front of the Villa fans, and he is walking into Joao, he can just easily walk around. I think everyone that has been in a competitive nature, that is difficult and can trigger things."

On whether Spurs have a discipline problem, Frank claimed that his players are just eager to return to winning ways after three games without a victory. The Tottenham boss said: "I think it's like you need to play with passion.

"And when you play with passion, then sometimes you play to the line. And sometimes a little bit borderline. So, I see players with big passion that want to do very well for the club. And I think that's very important. And of course, you also need cool heads."

Tottenham were 2-0 down at half time of their FA Cup clash vs Aston Villa (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire.)

Spurs have only won three of their last 10 games across all competitions, and Frank is under pressure to turn things around. On how he plans to get the fans back onside, the Dane said: "We all know there's only one way to have everyone happy.

"That is performing consistently and winning enough games. That's the only way. And we could see, second half especially, the energy, how they feed off each other, the players and the fans.

"It was a fantastic experience to be in the middle of it. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that fantastic comeback, which sometimes kicks start a momentum. And that's what we are working very hard to do.

"But I think the fans, the way they backed the team and pushed them forward, second half was very, very good. I still think it's, first and foremost, us. First and foremost, us.

"We need to perform, and then they can feed off the energy. But of course, we also need them in tough times, which they are there. They're travelling in big numbers to away games, and they are backing us. So that's a two-way (solution)."