Aston Villa 0 – 4 Spurs Review

Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham boosted their chances of Champions League qualification after an emphatic victory against Unai Emery’s Villans at Villa Park on Sunday.

Spurs, led by Head Coach Ange Postecoglou, headed to Villa Park to face Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in a match that could prove pivotal in the respective sides’ bids for Champions League qualification for next season. The Lilywhites were also seeking revenge after being beaten by the Villans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier in the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Tottenham knew that a win would boost their chances of a top-four finish by reducing the gap to just 2 points and give them momentum in this battle with so few games remaining. The North London club also knew that they had a game in hand and that it would become even more invaluable if they got all three points in B6.

A draw would have left the gap at 5 points, with Spurs remaining in 5th place. A win for the home side would have seen them extend the gap between themselves and Tottenham to what would have been a significant margin of 8 points with 10 games to go (11 for Spurs).

In reality, though, after a competitive first half, Postecoglou’s Tottenham turned on the style in the second half, producing a dominant and ruthless display that saw them secure a vital 4 – 0 win at Villa Park against UEFA Champions League qualification rivals Aston Villa.

The first opportunity of note for a goal came the way of the hosts when the Villans’ Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans was found by Ollie Watkins, but his shot on goal was well blocked by the visiting defenders with almost twenty minutes gone in the first half (15’).

Leon Bailey then had an effort of his own get well blocked by the Tottenham defenders a little under ten minutes later (22’). Then, with almost half an hour gone, right back Matty Cash had his own attempt to score the opening goal of the game thwarted after his effort flew narrowly wide of the post (29’).

Then, with approximately ten minutes of the first half remaining, Spurs’ first significant effort on goal saw James Maddison, after receiving the ball from the returning Pedro Porro, had his shot blocked by what had been a resilient Villa backline (35’).

The home side did pile on the pressure again in the closing stages of the first half. Just before the break, the in-form Ollie Watkins saw a shot blocked before a headed effort from Lucas Digne narrowly missed the target from close range seconds later (45’).

Following this missed opportunity, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur went into the half-time break level at 0 – 0.

Matty Cash did have an opportunity to potentially put Villa ahead in the very early stages of the second half, only for his shot on goal to be blocked well by the Lilywhites defenders to keep the score level (46’).

Thankfully for Ange Postecoglou and Spurs, it would be them who would score the opening goal of the game in the Second City. James Maddison, formerly of Norwich, Leicester City and Villa’s Midlands rivals Coventry City, scored after the finding the bottom right corner to give Tottenham the lead. It came after the creative midfielder met a cross into the box from fellow midfielder Pape Matar Sarr (50’).

After Villa had come close to an equaliser, with Youri Tielemans’s shot blocked (52’), Spurs scored their second goal in three minutes when ex-Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson scored with a well-placed close-range effort following a ball into his feet from fellow forward Son Heung-Min (53’).

Tottenham’s task of winning this game was made easier with 25 minutes remaining when Villa midfielder John McGinn was sent off for a challenge on Lilywhites left wing back Destiny Udogie (65’).

Villa did push to halve the deficit, and they did create an opportunity for French forward Moussa Diaby – however, the former Bayer Leverkusen player saw his effort blocked after receiving the ball into his feet from Douglas Luiz (74’).

Just a minute later, Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs came close to scoring. He missed the target in what was a missed opportunity to put his team out of sight at 3 – 0 (75’).

Moving on to the second half stoppage time, Tottenham eventually managed to extend their lead to three goals thanks to a powerful and clinical close range finish for South Korea international Son Heung-Min. Dejan Kulusevski had provided the assist after finding his fellow forward in plenty of space in the Aston Villa penalty area (90+1’).

Spurs rounded off their Premier League rout a few moments later when ex-Chelsea and current RB Leipzig loanee Timo Werner placed his curling effort into the bottom right corner past a helpless Emiliano Martinez. Son, the scorer of the third goal, turned provider with his pass into the feet of the Germany International forward (90+4’).

The final whistle then went, which confirmed an emphatic and crucial 4 – 0 victory in the Premier League against Champions League Qualification rivals Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday.

This win has seen Ange Postecoglou become the first Tottenham Manager to score in all of their first 27 top-flight matches since former Lilywhites Boss Arthur Rowe did so in 1951.

Following this result, Spurs remain in fifth spot, but they are now only two points behind Aston Villa in fourth place. Tottenham also still have their game in hand, and thanks to this emphatic win, the Lilywhites’ goal difference is now superior to that of their West Midlands counterparts.

Spurs dominated possession on the day, with 69% of the ball compared to the Villans’ 31%. Ange Postecoglou’s side also had more shots on target, with 5 (9 total shots) compared to Villa’s 1 (10 total shots).

Following the game, Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach Ange Postecoglou had this to say (via Spurs’ Official Website): “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.”

Next up for Tottenham in the Premier League is a trip to Craven Cottage to take on Marco Silva’s Fulham on Saturday, 16th March 2024, in what is set to be a 17:30 kick-off that afternoon. The game after that sees Spurs welcome Rob Edwards’ relegation threatened Luton Town to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the Lilywhites taking on the Hatters in North London on Saturday 30th March 2024 in what is set to be a 15:00 kick-off.

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