Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs gave their hopes of surviving relegation from the Premier League a huge boost as Unai Emery’s side were booed after a dismal performance.
Randall Kolo Muani celebrated with Spurs fans at Villa Park (Image: Getty Images)
This was an absolute gift for Tottenham, a gift that might help them stay up. To be fair, Tottenham were great as Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi looked hungry, sharp and dangerous in his ways.
But Aston Villa were embarrassingly bad. The Villa Park faithful booed the team at both half-time and full-time, venting their frustration throughout the appalling display.
Penny on West Ham’s thoughts? Villa made seven changes and rotated their squad between the two matches against Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final, with the regulars who played barely getting a leg up.
The victory saw Tottenham move past West Ham out of the relegation zone, with Spurs now looking the clear favorites to survive, with three games left in each side.
These are break periods at this stage of the season, with some players already on the beach and other clubs prioritizing other competitions.
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But it was a shame that Villa showed no interest. They were unable to get a shot on target until Emiliano Buendia equalized in the 96th minute, but by then it was too late. This raises questions about integrity. If you’re West Ham or Forest, you have every right to be angry.
With the Hammers now in the drop zone, Villa’s capitulation also means struggling Forest’s trip to Chelsea on Monday becomes even more important, just three days before the second leg against Villa.
It was an incredible stroke of luck for Spurs, who had won back-to-back Premier League titles for the first time since August.
Last week’s game against the Wolves was a poor, ugly win. This time they played well and had a flow, but Villa were just standing there, with no sign of pressing or tackling.
Conor Gallagher makes the perfect start for Spurs at Villa Park (Image: Getty Images)
No wonder the atmosphere inside Villa Park can feel quite toxic at times. Unai Emery gets a lot of credit from Villa fans, but it was no surprise that most of the home fans were out of their seats before the final whistle.
Moreover, Villa themselves have not yet won Champions League football. If we continue to play like this, we will not get any additional points.
Tottenham, by contrast, were sharp and engaged in their tackles. They looked on a completely different level than the villa. No wonder the likes of Jadon Sancho, Ross Barkley and Victor Lindelof rarely start.
Tottenham were on top of their game from the start. Tottenham took the lead after just 12 minutes. And it was rather fitting that Conor Gallagher scored his first goal for Spurs since turning down Villa’s £35m move to join Tottenham in January.
Richarlison scores his 10th Premier League goal of the season at Villa Park (Image: Getty Images)
Kevin Danso’s long throw was headed clear by Youri Tielemans, but it fell into the hands of Gallagher. Gallagher controlled the ball on the edge of the box and gave himself time to settle before firing a low shot into the net from 20 yards.
It was almost 2:05 minutes later. João Parinha’s low shot required a brilliant low-diving save from Martinez, forcing the ball into the post. Then, 25 minutes later, Richarlison made it 2-0 with a header from close range after Matthijs Tell’s excellent cross.
Even after the restart, Villa’s form did not improve. A groan could be heard as the short corner routine ended with the offside flag raised. Sancho simply gave up on the forward pass. It was embarrassing.
Villa finally produced something late in stoppage time. Matty Cash’s cross was flicked in by Bunedia, but it was too late to stop the wild jubilation in the away end.
Fair play, patient Spurs fans have been great all season.
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