ASTON VILLA 0 (0) | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 4 (0) |
Date : – Sunday 10th March 2024 | Kick off : – 13.00 |
Competition : – Premier League | Venue : – Villa Park |
Crowd : – ??? |
Referee : – Chris Kavanagh (Manchester) | Linesmen : – Mr. Simon Bennett; Mr. Dan Robathan |
Fourth official : – Darren Bond | |
VAR official : – Tim Robinson | VAR Assistant : – Darren Cann |
Weather : – Wet, cold | |
Spurs kicked off the first half attacking the Holte end | |
Playing time : – 90 + 12 minutes |
ASTON VILLA | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | ||
GOAL-SCORERS | |||
None | ![]() |
Maddison 49m 11s | |
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Johnson 52m 37s | ||
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Son 90+0m 03s | ||
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Werner 90+3m 56s | ||
CARDS | |||
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None | ![]() |
Sarr (foul on Tielemens) 19 |
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Dragusin (not getting back 10 yards at a free-kick) 61 | ||
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McGinn (foul on Udogie) 65 | ![]() |
ASTON VILLA | TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | ||
1. | Emiliano MARTINEZ | 13. | Guglielmo VICARIO |
2. | Matthew CASH | 23. | Pedro PORRO |
4. |
Ezri KONSA ( 3. Diego CARLOS 85) | 17. |
Cristian ROMERO |
14. | Pau TORRES | 37. | Micky van de VEN ( 6. Radu DRAGUSIN 49 ![]() |
17. | Clement LENGLET ( 22. Nicolo ZANIOLO 58) | 38. | Destiny UDOGIE |
12. | Lucas DIGNE ( 15. Alex MORENO 58) | ||
8. |
Yves BISSOUMA | ||
7. | John McGINN (c) ![]() |
29. | Pape Matar SARR ![]() ![]() |
6. | Douglas LUIZ | ||
8. | Youri TIELEMENS ( 19. Moussa DIABY 58) | 21. | Dejan KULUSEVSKI ![]() |
10. | James MADDISON ![]() ![]() |
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31. | Leon BAILEY ( 47. Tim IROEGBUNAM 69) | 22. | Brennan JOHNSON ![]() |
11. | Ollie WATKINS | |
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7. | Heung-Min SON (c) ![]() ![]() ![]() |
||
Substitutes | Substitutes | ||
25. | Robin OLSEN | 40. | Brandon AUSTIN |
29. | Kaine KESLER-HAYDEN | 12. | Emerson ROYAL |
27. | Morgan ROGERS | 33. | Ben DAVIES |
24. | Jhon DURAN | 18. | Giovani Lo CELSO |
44. | Dane SCARLETT |
= Assist
= Goal scored
= Own goal scored
Manager : – Unai Emery | Manager : – Ange Postecoglou |
Kit Supplier : – Castore | Kit Supplier : – Nike |
Shirt Sponsor : – BK8 | Shirt Sponsor : – AIA |
Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – Trade Nation | Shirt Sleeve Sponsor : – cinch |
Colours : –![]() |
Colours : –![]() |
Images of kits courtesy of the marvellous Colours of Football website | |
MATCH REPORT |
Tottenham blew Aston Villa away with an excellent second half display that resulted in a 4-0 win following a first half that was as dreary as the West Midlands weather. Spurs were already two goals to the good when John McGinn was shown a straight red card for a ridiculous foul on Destiny Udogie that left Villa a man short and the remaining ten running out of steam, such a toll had the Tottenham passing taken on them.
This game was billed as the showdown for a Champions League place with Villa fourth and Tottenham fifth, but with a number of tough games still remaining, it was never going to decide anything on the day, but confidence-wise the result gives Tottenham great heart for the remainder of the league programme, while Villa’s formerly impressive home record lay in tatters, as they face the next few matches without their captain. Spurs took the field with three changes from last Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace, manager Ange Postecoglou bringing in Brennan Johnson for Timo Werner, Sarr for Bentancur and Porro for Royal. It was about the strongest side that Ange could put out, so it showed how much this match meant to him and the team set about trying to narrow the five point gap with their hosts. The Villa fans soon howled for a penalty when van de Ven made ground to get back and tackle Watkins in the box, but the striker fell awkwardly, although he was soon up on his feet. Spurs had worked their way up to the other end and played the ball around the edge of the box, but Porro’s cross at the end of it went over the bar as he looked for a team-mate in the middle. There was little intensity in the first 15 minutes of the match except for Bissouma’s square pass just outside the box that went straight to Watkins, who passed to Luiz, but his ball into the box for Cash went off for a goal-kick. Both sides looked anxious, perhaps realising what rested on the outcome of the match. The referee also seemed to be nervy, booking Sarr for dragging down Tielemens when he was knocked off balance. If that was deemed to be a booking, then things would be getting interesting later in the match. Villa built some pressure with a free-kick and a couple of long throws, but a corner in the 23rd minute was dangerously swung under the bar, with Villa players around Vicario, but Micky headed it away well. While Villa had the majority of possession, when Spurs had the ball in trying to force the pace, they were giving the ball back to the home side. Luiz was trying to wind James Maddison up and Bailey was going down under the slightest touch, wanting another penalty when Bissouma tackled him, but Yves got a foot on top of the ball first. A quick free-kick sent Johnson through on the edge off the box, but Cash got back and when he tried to find a pass outside to Son, the Spurs captain had held his run and the ball was cleared. After Maddison played another pass, Tielemens brought him down in a much more intentional way than Sarr did for his booking, then the referee allowed Watkins to stand in front of the ball to stop the free-kick being taken. The lack of consistency in enforcing the laws by match officials (on and off the pitch) is truly infuriating. When Tottenham got into decent positions, the final ball lacked quality as typified by Johnson skinning Cash on the outside, but his low ball in was claimed on the floor at the near post by the keeper. The atmosphere was so flat as the game lacked excitement, which was fine as far as Spurs were concerned. Romero knocked the ball sideways in the centre-circle, only for Villa to pick it up and break, but he got back to block Watkin’s shot in the box that went for a corner. It was worked short for a cross into the area that Digne ran onto and could only meet it with his shoulder, not his head and it looped wide. Half-time came as a relief to everyone as it was as poor a 45 minutes that Spurs have been involved in this season. The best Villa chances arose from us giving the ball to them and we weren’t able to get past the number of claret shirts that they got back when we were on the attack. It looked as though Spurs might have an early chance when Villa gave the ball away 20 yards out, but Son’s pass for Johnson only picked out the man in front of him who was wearing a Villa shirt. Micky van de Ven lasted only a couple of minutes of the second half, having to be replaced by Radu Dragusin. His injury might have been one that carried over from the first half, but getting across to block a Bailey shot made it worse and even worse was the fact that the Villa man was offside anyway. From the free-kick, Spurs worked the ball out and Kulusevski played it down the right wing for Pape Matar Sarr, who looked up to hit a perfect cross for James Maddison to bundle over the line with a volley from very close range. There were worries that Sarr might have been offside, but Cash was playing him on across the other side of the pitch and he was also the player who didn’t get back to challenge Maddison who celebrated in front of the home support. 1-0 was soon 2-0 as Konsa played a loose pass to Tielemens who was robbed by Kulusevski and he found Son with a pass. He waited his moment to pass left to Brennan Johnson in the area and his shot was lifted shoulder high past Martinez to find the roof of the net. Whereas the pressure on the Villa defence wasn’t there in the first half, it was now telling and the clinical finish forced Unai “Dick” Emery into a triple change. Ironically, the referee booked Dragusin for trying to block a free-kick taken quickly by McGinn in direct contradiction to when he let it go earlier with Watkins. Spurs almost let Villa in when Dragusin was given a poor pass and McGinn got it, but Porro did well to prevent the ball finding Zaniolo. When Tottenham brought the ball away, Udogie had the ball on the left and McGinn put in a cowardly swipe taking Destiny out with no intention of getting the ball and it provoked anger amongst the Tottenham players. The Scotch midfielder was astonished to see a red card being waved in his direction, when frankly, that sort of tackle has no place on a football pitch. McGinn is not a stranger to snide tackles and this was one that he received punishment for when he (and one particular team-mate of his) has got away with many, many more in the past. And that team-mate was soon involved in dragging his studs down the back of Johnson’s heel off the ball, which VAR decided needed no action. Several others might have begged to differ. Dragusin showed that he is confident enough to bring the ball out of defence and look to make a forward pass. Spurs were making the extra man count and won the ball high in the Villa half, but through Bentancur, Kulusevski and Son, they couldn’t engineer a shooting chance. Dejan did get that opening, cutting inside from the right, but it kept going up, when Sonny wanted it played to him in the box to Kulusevski’s left. Radu took one in the bread basket when stopping a Cash cross giving then a corner. It was a poor one to the near post and from it, Tottenham cleared although Watkins went down as though a sniper had shot him, but nothing was given and Kulusevski broke away, being fouled as he went, but run out of legs when he got to the penalty area. While Villa did try to go forward, it was easier for Tottenham to pick off passes and as more and more of the claret and blue seats were on show, it became a simple task to knock the ball around, although we could have done with more goals to level out the goal difference. The Villa players were struggling and the number of passes we were making was way more than in the stilted first period. Villa won a couple of corners. The second found its way to the far post where Guglielmo blocked it, but Zaniolo scraped the keeper’s head with his studs as he fell onto him. The corner was cleared, but Cash headed it back into the box where Vicario came for it but fumbled and the defence had to clear it away. Hojbjerg sent Luiz the wrong way with a neat turn, then dropped a shoulder to go clear of anther Villa player before sending a ball forward for Son, with Kulusevski ending up having a shot blocked. The corner came to nothing but a minute later Spurs did make something out of nothing. Porro nut-megged Moreno on the right and Kulusevski took the ball down the line and pulled it back to the penalty spot where Son fired the ball powerfully past the keeper. It wasn’t an entirely unfair score-line considering the excellent second half Tottenham had. And with ten minutes of added time. There were hopes for more. And that was what happened. Son played a pass short to Johnson on the left touchline and his first-time pass inside to Bentancur allowed him to take it forward and lay it off to Son, who glided past Cash. He was aware that Werner was just behind him, so pulled it back for the loan striker, who buried it past the keeper right footed into the far side of the goal. At this point Villa had nothing left, as they had been given the run-around by Tottenham and there was space and time, which we sued to great effect. If only their players showed the energy and pace that their supporters were exhibiting in their race for the exits. With Tottenham not letting up, there was a last minute corner, which the referee prevented anything being made of, as he called the match to a halt as soon as it was taken short. It was the Tottenham Boys making all the noise, as it echoed around a mostly empty Villa Park except for the jumping away section. It’s never nice getting out-classed on your own patch, but this level of support from the Villa fans is totally embarrassing. With their season’s results being hyped up to get them pushing for a Champions League place, it has put then in the position where anything that goes against them means that the Villa fans are unable to face the fact that they are not as great as they are made out to be. I much prefer Postecoglou’s approach in the face of press questioning in his pre-match press conference saying that the qualification for the Champions League is not the silver bullet that some clubs are seeking. If Spurs do qualify at the end of this season, will it have come too early ? A young side with a new manager trying to mould them into his vision of what he wants them to be, being thrown in against some of the best teams in Europe could be the dream, but while it is the aim of each club, would a gradual build be a better approach ? While the first half wasn’t a great showing by Spurs, there was little threat from Villa, so it was uncomfortably comfortable seeing as there was little pattern to the game. The defensive midfielders went about their work without fuss and even the early substitution of Micky van de Ven in the second half didn’t disrupt the way the team played. Villa’s approach in trying to hit Watkins with the early long ball failed time and time again, while any time they got through the Spurs defence, someone got back to stop them, protecting Vicario, who had very little to do. The first goal came from the back, playing through the Villa midfield and Pape producing a world-class cross for Maddison to volley in. The expansive way we play takes a lot out of the opposition and there were heavy legs in the home team even before they lost the ball 25 yards out, when Kulusevski tackled Tielemens and the ball was quickly move don for Johnson to finish with great confidence. With the way was going and knowing Villa from past matches, it was unsurprising that there was going to be one flash-point at least. McGinn’s lash out at Udogie was nowhere near the ball and was designed to endanger the player’s safety. He couldn’t even try to disguise it, which brought Spurs players rushing in to protect their colleague. It was a brainless foul and one that didn’t really need VAR to confirm that it was a red card. As the team captain, he should be setting an example, instead he left his remaining team-mates to face a fluid Spurs die for the last 25 minutes (plus the 10 that had to be added on). Being able to pass at will, they ran Villa into the ground, with players treading water and not fit enough to track back, leading to many chances to add to our score. Son’s clinical finish after Dejan had played the ball in front of him to hit first-time and then Son returning the compliment for Werner late in added time completed the rout. It was all Spurs deserved and the defence should come in for praise in keeping the dangerous Watkins and Bailey quiet to preserve a clean sheet. Emery got it all wrong and he may have been concentrating on their Europa League match in midweek, but you need to juggle your resources when you are playing on a number of fronts. All their name players flopped. Martinez is supposedly the best keeper in the world according to some, but there was little evidence of that today, while the likes of Watkins, Luiz, McGinn, Torres and Digne were all anonymous. One win doesn’t mean a lot when there are still 11 matches left, but it is a clear example of how we can play and how we can take teams apart. The manager will keep their feet on the ground and the focus will switch to Fulham next Saturday evening. Gary “Gnasher” Nash |
MATCH NOTES |
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OTHER RESULTS | |||
Mancashter United | 2 | Everton | 0 |
AFC Bournemouth | 2 | Sheffield United | 2 |
Crystal Palace | 1 | Luton Town | 1 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2 | Fulham | 1 |
Woolwich Wanderers | 2 | Brentford | 1 |
Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 | Nottingham Forest | 0 |
West Ham United London | 2 | Burnley | 2 |
Liverpool | 1 | Mancashter City | 1 |
Chelsea | 3 | Newcash United | 2 |
Premier League Table 2023-24
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points | Goal difference | ||
1 | Woolwich Wanderers | 28 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 70 | 24 | 64 | +46 |
2 | Liverpool | 28 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 65 | 26 | 64 | +39 |
3 | Mancashter City | 28 | 19 | 6 | 3 | 63 | 28 | 63 | +35 |
4 | Aston Villa | 28 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 59 | 41 | 55 | +19 |
5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 59 | 39 | 53 | +20 |
6 | Mancashter United | 28 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 39 | 39 | 47 | 0 |
7 | West Ham United London | 28 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 45 | 49 |
43 | -4 |
8 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 50 | 44 | 42 | +6 |
9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 28 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 42 | 44 | 41 | -2 |
10 | Newcash United | 28 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 59 | 48 | 40 | +11 |
11 | Chelsea | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 47 | 45 | 39 | +2 |
12 | Fulham | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 40 | 44 | 35 | -4 |
13 | AFC Bournemouth | 27 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 37 | 49 | 32 | -12 |
14 | Crystal Palace | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 33 | 48 | 29 | -15 |
15 | Brentford | 28 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 40 | 52 | 26 | -12 |
16 | Everton | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 29 | 39 | 25* | -10 |
17 | Nottingham Forest | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 34 | 50 | 24 | -16 |
18 | Luton Town | 27 | 5 | 6 |
16 | 38 | 55 | 21 | -17 |
19 | Burnley | 28 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 27 | 62 | 14 | -35 |
20 | Sheffield United | 28 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 24 | 74 | 14 | -50 |
*6 points deducted