Spurs Storm Past Villa to March on in Race For Fourth

Saturday 9th April 2022 - 5:30pm

Match Report

Aston Villa 0 – 4 Tottenham Hotspur

Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham

Competition: English Premier League

"Pre-Match Thoughts – Huge results elsewhere as both Arsenal and Utd lost to help Spurs hopes of top 4. Pressure's on now though, three points would see us in fourth and three points clear.

Confidence should be sky high following that emphatic win against Newcastle last weekend. Conte has had his precious week of preparation on the training ground too. All points towards another crucial Spurs win but there's always the danger of another slip-up in the agonisingly tight race for Champions League qualification.

Villa have lost their last two, so Gerrard and his side will be keen to turn their form around.

I'm expecting a tight, nervy encounter, but I think we'll edge it 2-1."

Despite Reguilón returning from injury, Conte stuck with the same side that faced Newcastle, with Doherty on the left and Royal on the right.

3' GOAL! Dier lumped it forward from the centre of defence, it was headed away but fell straight to Kane on the edge of the area, he mishit a volley that was blocked, but the rebound fell to Son in a similar position who swept a shot left-footed for the bottom corner, it crashed against the base of the post and into the net. 1-0.

Super start for Spurs!

14' Matty Cash struck a low, fizzing effort from 30 yards that Hugo had to dive down to parry out. Thankfully it then fell to Davies who cleared the danger.

16' Ramsey jinked through three Spurs players down the left side of the area and unleashed a shot from close range that Lloris did superbly to rapidly react to and save one-handed at his near post and push over the bar.

That one was as good as a goal!

18' Another 30 yarder, this time from McGinn, but again Lloris was there to spring up and save to his right.

Villa were determined to get back into it and were flying into challenges and smashing shots from all angles. Spurs just about managed to stand firm and keep them out.

27' A free-kick straight off the training ground caught Spurs out, as Coutinho chipped it deftly over the wall for Ings to latch onto in front of goal. Thankfully he didn't quite connect cleanly with his scissor-kicked effort, and Lloris managed to make yet another save.

32' Coutinho teased Royal by the byline and sneaked a cross in that flew over Dier's head and found Watkins with a free header from six yards. He couldn't get it down though and Lloris was relieved to see it over the bar.

37' Another big chance for Villa! Spurs with their backs against the wall. Watkins flicked a cross on to the far post where Ings had a free shot at goal but dragged it wide.

43' Reguilón cut-in 0n the top of the box and shot right-footed across goal. It deflected off a defender and forced the keeper to dive to his right and palm it out. It was a fraction away from falling at the feet of Kane, but Spurs had to settle for a corner.

45'+5' Kulusevski conceded a free-kick on the left side. It was whipped in viciously by Coutinho and yet again Lloris was there to claw it away from crossing the line at his near post with a jumping save.

"Thoughts at Half-Time – Spurs manage to hold out until the break. Villa's pressure has been relentless since Son's early opener. Lloris deserves a lot of credit for keeping a clean sheet so far. Spurs have looked a little rattled at the back and rushed going forward. Let's hope Conte calms them down and they emerged confident and composed in the second half to see this one out."

50' GOAL! Lloris launched a long ball forward that Kane did brilliantly to muscle off two Villa defenders for and nod down to Kulusevski. The super Swede took it into his stride and worked his way down the left of the area before unleashing a shot through the legs of a sliding defender low and hard across goal that nestled into the inside of the net. 2-0.

66' GOAL! Romero struck a long ball from the right-back position, Kane met it with another beautiful headed flick-on, this time it was into the path of the onrushing Son, whose eyes lit up as he saw he was through one-on-one, and he made no mistake by burying it into the left of the goal. 3-0!

71' GOAL! Spurs on fire as Højbjerg played it to Son who took it right and drew two Villa players in before sneaking it through them and into the overlapping Kulusevski. He took it down to the byline, sat Mings down with a cheeky little cut-back onto his left which presented him with time to pick out a pass, and that's just what he did, sliding it to Son on the edge of the area, who struck it first time across goal against the post and in. A hat-trick for Sonny! 4-0.

🎵 ANTONIOOO! ANTONIOOO! ANTONIOOO! 🎵

89' First lapse in concentration from Lloris, as Dier played it back to him and he passed out straight to Bailey. Thankfully his shot with the goal gaping was too powerful, and much to the relief of Hugo, it flew narrowly over the bar.

"Thoughts at Full-Time – Spurs got the job done and despite a nervy first half managed to find three in the second period to produce another emphatic win. Conte's transformed them into a goalscoring machine and it's what we love to see! That result sits us pretty in fourth, three points and +10 goal difference ahead of Arsenal, though they do have a game in hand on us. A HUGE victory, and the Spurs go marching on!"

Tottenham Player Ratings

• 1. Hugo Lloris – 9.5 – Deserves huge credit for keeping us in it in the first half. He faced a flurry of shots following Spurs' opener and did well to keep them out, especially Ramsey's effort. Made one slack pass out the back at the last that he was fortunately let-off with, as Bailey missed the target.

• 4. Cristian Romero – 9 – A wall at the back again. Made countless tackles and interceptions. Just seems so determined to keep everything out that attackers don't want to go near him. Played a lovely ball forward that Kane nodded on to set Son up for the third too.

• 15. Eric Dier – 7.5 – Regimented at the back. Few shaky moments in the first half as Spurs were under the cosh, but kept things organised on the whole to help toward keeping the clean sheet.

• 33. Ben Davies– 7.5 – Quite a quiet game for him but that's not necessarily a bad thing for a defender. Did his job keeping it tight at the back and finding the right passes out.

• 2. Matt Doherty – 6 – Tried to soldier on after suffering what looked like a knee injury following a hefty tackle on him in the opening stages, but it eventually forced him off after 20 minutes. It's a shame as he's been on a great run of form. Let's hope it's nothing serious.

• 5. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 8 – Had to be cautious after being carded but kept his composure in there while continuing to scrap for everything throughout.

• 30. Rodrigo Bentancur – 8 – His passing was a touch off in the first half, seemed to be rushing it a bit. Nicked in with some important interceptions and tackles though, and kept things composed in the second half that helped Spurs see out the win.

• 12. Emerson Royal – 6 – Still doesn't look comfortable on the ball and struggles to pick out passes. Flew into a silly slide tackle when we were four up that earnt him an unnecessary yellow.

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski – 9 – Outstanding again. He uses the ball SO well and never seems to give it away. Blasted in a brilliant goal to make it two then teed up Son superbly to make it four. He's made a huge difference since arriving in January, and he's only 21!

• 7. Son Heung-min – 10 – Grabbed himself a hat-trick with his clinical finishing. Swept home the opener inside five minutes, slotted away a second in style, completed his hat-trick side-footing across goal with his right. Happy to see him head home with the match ball.

• 10. Harry Kane – 9 – Unplayable again in the second half. Dropped in and used his heading prowess to assist Kulusevski and then Son. Heart in mouth moment when he went down clutching his ankle following a disgusting Ashley Young tackle. Fingers crossed he's fine.

Substitutions:

• 2. Matt Doherty ⬅ 21' ➡ 3. Sergio Reguilón – 6.5 – Good job he was back fit as he was called into action just twenty minutes in. Decent effort that forced a save from the keeper and almost fell to Kane. Did his usual running up and down the left but didn't create much.

• 7. Son Heung-min ⬅ 78' ➡ 27. Lucas Moura – 6 – Came on to help see out the game. Wasn't involved too much.

• 21. Dejan Kulusevski ⬅ 84' ➡ 23. Steven Bergwijn – N/A – Another late appearance for him. Didn't get much of a chance.

Man of the Match – 7. Son Heung-min