Four second-half goals helped Tottenham land an important win at ten-player Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon to cut the gap between the teams to two points in the race for fourth place in the Premier League.
An intriguing but chance-less match burst into life as Spurs scored twice in four minutes in the second half before their job was made easier by a senseless challenge from John McGinn that saw the Scottish midfielder sent off.
Tottenham scored two more in second-half stoppage time and remain fifth but rise within two points of Unai Emery’s Villans with a game in hand.
How the game unfolded
Much anticipation was in the air at Villa Park as two enterprising sides strode out for a crucial meeting in the hunt for Champions League qualification. Villa brought in McGinn, Leon Bailey and Matty Cash in three changes from Thursday night’s Conference League draw with Ajax, while Tottenham welcomed back Pedro Porro from injury as Pape Matar Sarr and Brennan Johnson also started.
However, for all the pre-match expectation, no shots on target arrived in the first 45 minutes.
Villa looked weary and without a spark in the opening exchanges, though Spurs couldn’t create any openings despite their dominance in possession.
Micky van de Ven, Porro, and Cristian Romero all made important recovery tackles when Villa sprung on the counter, but it wasn’t until a dizzying opening 15 minutes of the second half when some proper action would finally arrive.
Barely moments after Van de Ven was forced off by injury, the visitors went ahead. Porro and Dejan Kulusevski combined before Sarr was sent scampering down the right hand side. The midfielder’s cross reached James Maddison, who was on hand to bundle in just his fourth Premier League goal of the season.
The Villa Park crowd was far from its most vociferous and then deathly hush became that much more pronounced when Postecoglou’s side capitalised on careless passing at the back from the hosts to extend their lead.
Kulusevski stole in ahead of Youri Tielemans and found Son, who waited for Brennan Johnson to arrive before feeding the Welshman who lifted his shot over Emiliano Martinez for 2-0.
Villa’s home form was the stuff of legend during the first half of the season but Tottenham’s clinical finishing suddenly saw Emery starting down a third league defeat in four outings at Villa Park, having won nine of their first ten.
That frustration boiled over rather explicity when McGinn saw red. The Scotland international caught Destiny Udogie…
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