A second-half surge by Tottenham Hotspur saw the home side collect all three points in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
The first half between Villa and Spurs was not a fun watch as the away side fought off Spurs early press and won more of the 50/50 balls to be on the front foot early on.
Dealing with Ollie Watkins and needing to fix the back post defense, Spurs fans were riddled with fear in the first 30 minutes as the away side missed their chances to get that first goal.
But, an annoyance that has stayed with Spurs is their set-piece defending as Aston Villa got the first goal from a corner. Guglielmo Vicario tussled with Morgan Rogers for positioning inside his six-yard box. Still, a corner ball left the goalkeeper having to make a save from a potential own goal on Rodrigo Bentancur that allowed Rogers to get the second ball and finish for a 1-0 lead.
Still not having answers for defending the near post or getting the ball out to have a breath of relief, Spurs kept the game at a 1-0 deficit into the break.
From then on, it was all Spurs.
Tottenham tied the game three minutes into the second half as Son Heung-min was alone on the far touchline. Getting the ball and carrying it down his left side, Son made a few moves to open space for a Sonsational left-footed cross to the back post for Brennan Johnson to run on it and tap it past Emi Martinez.
Ange Postecoglou made the change a few minutes after the tying goal by taking Son off for precautionary reasons to save his star man. Although Son was frustrated by the decision, others stepped up.
One player in particular who made it his game was Pape Sarr, who helped the side get the lead with two vital bits of play.
Spurs grabbed the lead on a strong challenge from Ben Davies — who came on for the injured Cristian Romero — to break a potential Villa counter-attack. With the ball meeting Sarr’s feet, the midfield slotted a ball around Johnson in the 18-yard box. Johnson took one touch for Kulusevski to lay a weighted pass away from Diego Carlos for Dominic Solanke to get a one-on-one chance with Martinez and chip him for the lead.
Spurs added another goal, up 2-1, with Sarr leading the break again. Picking off a loose pass from Pau Torres, Sarr led the short counter in Villa’s half with Solanke and Richarlison on either side of him. Driving the ball and setting up Richarlison on his left, the Brazilian squared a pass in the box for a run-on from Solanke to get his brace.
Richarlison was subbed off after the moment. The second he laid the pass off for Solanke’s goal, he pulled up, holding his hamstring.
Spurs added one more goal for good measure as James Maddison curled his free kick around the Villa wall and left Martinez frozen for a fishing touch to a stellar 4-1 second-half comeback.
Notes:
- Outside of one blip in the opening minutes on a back post run from Ollie Watkins, Radu Dragusin played well as he filled in for the injured Micky Van de Ven.
- Ben Davies came on for the final 30 and did a shift for the injured Romero. Davies started the break for Spurs to get that lead.
- Sarr was the star boy today. Not having Maddison in the Starting XI and Kulusevski marked more by Villa players, Sarr stepped up.
- Solanke got his first brace in a Spurs shirt.
- Maddison and Ange Postecoglou shared a moment after the final whistle with the manager’s decision to keep his playmaker on the bench, which left many asking why.
