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According to Villa captain John McGinn, the upcoming match between the fourth and fifth placed teams on Sunday was deemed as “the most crucial game in the recent history of the club”.
Unai Emery’s men had the chance to move eight points clear of Spurs in the final guaranteed Champions League spot, but instead the hosts’ captain saw red in an embarrassing second-half collapse.
Tottenham closed the gap on Villa by two points after securing a victory that began with James Maddison scoring off a fantastic cross from Pape Matar Sarr in the 50th minute.
Brennan Johnson scored a fantastic second three minutes later and McGinn’s rash, frustrated challenge on Destiny Udogie led to a straight red card that ended Villa hopes of a comeback.
In the final moments of the game, Son Heung-min and substitute Timo Werner both scored, helping Tottenham achieve a significant victory against Aston Villa. This ended Villa’s three-game winning streak against Spurs in the Premier League.
At Villa Park, the players were greeted by smoke and pyrotechnics, but the first half didn’t have any exciting moments worth mentioning.
Ollie Watkins posed a threat to Tottenham’s high defensive line in the beginning of the match. Micky van de Ven saved the day with his quick pace, coming to the rescue of Cristian Romero after Watkins sprinted past him.
In another instance of using that strategy, Watkins was able to get past the defense before being called offside. This spared the Villa striker from embarrassment as his poorly executed pass to Leon Bailey was intercepted by Pedro Porro.
Guglielmo Vicario was able to deflect a free-kick from McGinn and Matty Cash missed a scoring opportunity after his cutback was stopped. Additionally, Aston Villa’s five defenders successfully kept Tottenham’s offense at bay.
Just before halftime, Villa almost scored from a short corner. They passed the ball back to McGinn, who sent in a strong cross. Lucas Digne tried to head it in, but it narrowly missed the goal.
Postecoglou’s team successfully avoided the danger and returned from the intermission with renewed energy. Even the early departure of Van de Ven did not disrupt their composure.
The Tottenham player who was injured had to be substituted by Radu Dragusin and walked off the field while his teammates and the opposing fans cheered in the background.
Maddison was the first to score for Spurs in a significant victory.
In the 50th minute, Maddison skillfully utilized a fantastic pass from Sarr on the right to score, beating two Villa defenders to the ball.
The man from the Spurs team ran off to celebrate with the fans from the opposing team, but then faced the fans from the home team while doing his dart celebration.
Shortly after, the crowd erupted once more when Dejan Kulusevski intercepted Ezri Konsa’s subpar pass to Tielemans, expertly stopping the play before setting up Son, who then passed to Johnson to elegantly curve the ball past Emiliano Martinez.
Emery made a new team and adjusted the formation, but was then thrown off track when McGinn was sent off in the 65th minute.
The agitated captain of Villa took out Udogie with an unnecessary tackle, resulting in a confrontation between the two teams as referee Chris Kavanagh showed a direct red card.
The joyous traveling fans cheered “2-0 in your cup final” as they watched Kulusevski attempt to score a third goal while their team easily dominated the 10-man home team.
Vicario positioned himself to block substitute Nicolo Zaniolo, but Tottenham maintained dominance and scored two more goals in the final minutes.
In the 91st minute, Son scored a goal from Kulusevski’s pass, followed by substitute Werner adding another in the additional 10 minutes. As a result, the home fans left the stadium.
Source: independent.co.uk
