Aston Villa 1 Spurs 2
De Zerbi has changed everything at Spurs. When the team sheet came out before kick-off I think the Spurs players would have been buoyed seeing Villa rotate starting the likes of Sancho, Bogarde, Lindeolf, Barkley, Abraham and Maatsen who haven’t been starting all season for Villa and you could tell tonight. Spurs started the far better team in the opening stages and took the lead as the ball fell to Conor Gallagher on the edge of the box who accurately curled the ball past Emi Martinez to give Spurs a deserved lead in the 12th minute, from there it was complete domination from De Zerbi’s side who were so comfortable all game and doubled their advantage soon after as Mathys Tel whipped a gorgeous ball into the box as Richarlison nodded past Martinez to put Spurs two goals in front in the 25th minute. For the rest of the half Spurs were comfortable passing the ball about and worked tirelessly to get the ball back when they lost it which we haven’t seen enough of this season so far, Aston Villa couldn’t get much worse in the second half but they didn’t improve anywhere near enough and clearly had one eye on Thursday night with Emery opting to make changes quite late in the game, Emi Buendia got one back for Villa five minutes into injury time but it wasn’t enough as Spurs climb out of the relegation zone.
What a performance from Spurs at just the right time. With West Ham losing yesterday it was imperative that Spurs at least got something out of the game today and they managed to win at Villa Park which I don’t think most people would have saw coming before the game, it’s hard to pick a part of the team that stood out as everyone was brilliant but I thought the game was won in midfield for Spurs today. I’ve been highly critical of Connor Gallagher since he’s joined Spurs but he was brilliant today even apart from his goal he didn’t stop running all game along with Bentancur and Palhinha who were crucial in closing down Villa’s players at all times, defensively Spurs were comfortable all game with Villa’s only shot on target being the goal by Buendia which came far too late for Villa in the end. In the attack Spurs looked dangerous all game with Kolo-Muani probably putting his best performance in a Premier League game for quite some time taking Maatsen to the cleaners all game, Richarlison’s goal was crucial and he’s going to be so important in these last few games as Spurs’s only senior number 9. Overall every single Spurs player played their hearts out tonight and secured a vital three points in the relegation battle.
Far below the standard set by Villa so far this season. I know they rotated tonight but that’s no excuse for churning out a horrific performance in front of your own fans ahead of a huge game on Thursday against Nottingham Forest, you’d think some players might try and play themselves into the starting 11 for that game but none of the squad players impressed tonight and no doubt will go back to the bench on Thursday. The senior players that did start tonight like Rogers, Tielemans, Mings and Cash were uncharacteristically poor tonight which set the tone for Villa throughout the game, I don’t think there’s one positive I can give for Villa tonight other than Emery will now know he can’t start any of the squad players that started tonight in that game on Thirsday, it was a chance for guys like Sancho, Barkley, Lindelof etc to make a real statement but they were horrendous with Sancho in particular looking like he’d rather be anywhere else than Villa Park tonight, something we’ve seen far too often in his time in the Premier League so far. Overall Villa take no momentum into that game on Thursday having lost their last three matches but will still be confident of getting into the Europa League Final in a few weeks.
Spurs aren’t getting relegated this season. I said it after the Brighton game a couple of weeks ago that I don’t see Spurs going down and I feel even more confident after tonight’s result, there’s something about De Zerbi that I really enjoy and that’s his passion for whatever team he’s coaching. You could see it with both of Spurs’ goals tonight that the players have immediately bought into De Zerbi’s philosophy and even throughout the game when ordinarily Spurs’ midfielders aren’t comfortable on the ball but tonight they were cosy all game and you have to give real credit to De Zerbi who’s best trait in my opinion is improving players and we are already seeing that at Spurs in just a few weeks. Even with such a weakened squad at the minute De Zerbi is now unbeaten in Spurs’ last three matches managing 7 points out of 9 which is some turnaround after the situation Tudor left a month or so ago, I think De Zerbi can build something really special at Spurs if he’s backed the right way following this season.
West Ham are now favourites to go down. I watched a wee bit of the game at Brentford yesterday and thought West Ham were really unlucky to lose 3-0 in the end but its left them in the relegation zone this evening which has to be really worrying for Nuno and West Ham supporters, it leaves next week as probably do or die against Arsenal at the London Stadium with Spurs playing Leeds at home on the Monday. If West Ham get beat by Arsenal next week and Spurs win they’ll be 4 points adrift at the bottom which is would more than likely send them down with both teams current trajectories, unfortunately it looks like West Ham will go down barring a miracle next week against Arsenal who were magnificent yesterday and are fighting for the league. That game at the London Stadium next week is about as big of a game as there’s been all season with both teams having everything to play for, looking forward to it next Sunday.