James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Son Heung-min and Timo Werner all netted for Tottenham in a 4-0 victory at ten-men Aston Villa in the race for fourth place in the Premier League.
Maddison flicked in a 50th minute opening goal from Pape Matar Sarr’s cross on a Tottenham counter-attack, before Brennan Johnson netted the second goal just three minutes later from another counter-attack.
Late goals from Son and Werner wrapped up a clinical victory for the North London visitors who firmly reignited their hopes of Champions League qualification for next season.
Villa ended the match with ten men after John McGinn was red carded for a 65th minute reckless tackle on Destiny Udogie.
Unai Emery’s Villains remain fourth in the Premier League table but are now just two points ahead of Tottenham who stay fifth.
Separated by five points at kick-off in fourth and fifth positions respectively, Villa and Tottenham knew that defeat wasn’t an option if either team are to finish in the final Champions League qualification spot amidst a cagey opening 10 minutes as Spurs’ Maddison failed to head Dejan Kulusevski’s cross onto target.
Villa’s first chance came from a 18th minute counter-attack as a Tottenham free-kick was cleared to McGinn who found Ollie Watkins via Youri Tielemans, yet the forward opted to play a pass across to Leon Bailey when through on goal but the pass was blocked.
Spurs were soon forced into a period of defending during which Guglielmo Vicario punched away a 20th minute free kick after Sarr fouled Youri Tielemans.
Yves Bissouma meanwhile got lucky in the 34th minute after he brought Bailey down in the box on a Villa counter-attack but referee, Chris Kavanagh waved away Bailey’s penalty appeals, having adjudged that Bissouma got a touch on the ball despite replays showing that the midfielder stood on the ball just prior to the foul.
Neither team were eventually able to break the deadlock before half-time as Villa went close in the final minute of the first half, as Cristian Romero blocked Watkins’ shot before Lucas Digne nodded wide of the top-right corner from McGinn’s cross.
Barely two minutes into the second-half, Villa spurned a huge chance to open the scoring as Bailey fired wide but he was caught offside in the build-up, whilst Spurs’ Mickey van de Ven suffered a leg injury during his block of Bailey’s shot and was replaced two minutes later by Radu Dragusin.
Dragusin’s introduction proved pivotal as just one minute after his introduction, Tottenham broke forward up the right on the counter-attack, with Sarr free to curl in a low cross into the box which Maddison flicked in from close range to put the visitors in front.
Villa desperately tried to chase an immediate equaliser but Tielemans’ 52nd minute shot was deflected into the air and saved by Vicario, after the Italian goalkeeper fumbled his initial save.
That save proved pivotal as Spurs again broke forward on the counter-attack after Kulusevski intercepted Ezri Konsa and unleashed Son, but the South Korea forward decided to tee up Johnson who calmly lashed in from close-range on the left to double Tottenham’s lead.
Villa however attempted to try and fight back to avoid seeing their gap to Spurs reduced to just two points but their task was made harder in the 65th minute, after McGinn was red carded for a reckless tackle on Udogie despite the Italian having got to his feet looking fine before going back down to ground in pain.
Tottenham eventually survived a late valiant fightback from Villa to keep a clean sheet and firmly reignite their top-four ambitions, which was capped off by Son’s strike in the first minute of injury-time after he pounced upon Kulusevski’s cutback pass.
Werner added further icing on Spurs’ celebratory cake in the 94th minute after he flicked in to the far bottom-right corner from Son’s pass.
Speaking to Tottenham’s website about Tottenham’s win, manager – Ange Postecoglou commented: “I’m delighted, yes, the boys were outstanding today in all facets. Villa are a good side, especially here, really tough to beat. The crowd make a good atmosphere for them.
“I thought we handled all that really well, especially in the first half where they were going to have the energy, but I just felt, even towards the end of the first half, our continual pressing, tempo and intensity were beginning to wear on them and that was the message at half-time, perseverance, and got off to a flying start in the second half, which was great and then the quality of our football shone through.
“Our finishing was better today. It’s still an area of the park I feel we can still be more ruthless in, even today, we had more chances, but it was great to score more goals and the guys who scored the goals, they’re the ones playing in those forward areas and they work really hard on the defensive side of the game, but they are there to score and create goals and they all contributed.”
What’s Next?
Villa return their attention to the Europa Conference League on Thursday 14 March in the home leg of their Round of 16 tie against Ajax.
Tottenham head to Fulham on Saturday 16 March in a must-win Premier League clash, which could put them up to fourth in the table before Villa visit West Ham on Sunday 17 March.
Teams
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Clement Lenglet (Zaniolo 58′), Matty Cash, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Lucas Digne (Moreno 58′), Leon Bailey (Iroegbunam 69′), Youri Tielemans (Diaby 58′), Ollie Watkins
Substitutes: Diego Carlos, Alex Moreno, Moussa Diaby, Nicolo Zaniolo, Jhon Duran, Robin Olsen, Morgan Rogers, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Tim Iroegbunam
Tottenham: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Mickey van de Ven (Dragusin 49′), Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr (Bentancur 70′), Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison (Werner 88′), Brennan Johnson (Højbjerg 88′), Son Heung-min
Substitutes: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Radu Dragusin, Emerson Royal, Timo Werner, Giovanni Lo Celso, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies, Brandon Austin, Dane Scarlett
Referee – Chris Kavanagh