Aston Villa 0 Tottenham 4
Two sides met at Villa Park who had their sights set on Champions League qualification. Aston Villa started the day five points clear of their North London rivals, with a real chance of cementing their position in front of their own fans.
Watkins broke through early on for the hosts but a last-ditch challenge from van de Ven denied him. The striker wanted a penalty but as the replay showed, he got a touch on the ball before making contact with the player.
Moments later McGinn found Douglas Luiz who fed it into the path of Watkins. As he ran through on goal, with only the keeper to beat, he bizarrely looked to square the ball instead of shooting. It allowed Tottenham to clear the ball but the replay showed he may have been offside anyway.
Aston Villa were asking all the questions in the first half. Ange Postecoglou’s side were struggling to deal with the threat from the hosts. That said, Villa’s build-up play was good but their finishing lacked its usual clinical nature.
Credit: @SpursOfficial
Despite all the action in the visitors’ final third, Unai Emery’s side had not asked many questions of Vicario in the Spurs’ goal. As the sides headed in at the break, two big team talks were required of the respective managers.
The second half got off to the worst possible start for Postecoglou as van de Ven went to ground with no one around him. It seemed the defender had aggravated an injury that had kept him out for some time earlier in the season.
It did not take long before the visitors punished Villa for their firing blanks in the first half. Sarr crossed from the right wing with Maddison making the run to the near post to slot home. The away end erupted as they got an unlikely lead.
Tottenham started to press high up the pitch and dispossessed Aston Villa. Son fed it into the path of Johnson who slotted the ball into the top corner of the goal. Things were going from bad to worse for Emery’s side in their pursuit of a top four spot.
McGinn then lost his mind as he hacked down Udogie deep in the Spurs’ half. It caused it all to kick-off between the two sets of players as the visitors did not appreciate the tenacity of the challenge. The referee immediately brandished the midfielder a red card.
VAR checked the decision but the more you look at the replay, the worse the tackle looked. What on earth John McGinn was thinking when he did it baffles the mind. Either way, this could prove costly for Aston Villa’s remaining games.
Credit: @SpursOfficial
Emery’s side were down to ten men and two goals down at this stage. It was hard to see a way back into this game for them. Things got worse as Kulusevski got down the right and picked out Son who smashed the ball home to make it three-nil.
The Villa fans started to head home, missing Son cutting the ball back to Werner to slot home. It was an emphatic win for Ange Postecoglou’s side. They had made a huge statement in the race for fourth spot in the Premier League.
For the hosts, it was a bad day at the office, made worse by the straight red card for their playmaker. He will be sorely missed in the next three games. Tottenham are now two points behind Aston Villa, with a game in hand still.
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