Aston Villa fell to their third home league defeat since the turn of the year by losing 4-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.
James Maddison opened the scoring shortly after half-time, before Brennan Johnson doubled the away side’s advantage three minutes later. After John McGinn saw a straight red card just after the hour mark for a reckless foul on Destiny Udogie, Son Heung-min and Timo Werner rounded the game off late on.
The result leaves fifth-placed Spurs two points behind Villa and with a game in hand as the race for Champions League football hots up.
Unai Emery opted to play a different system to take on Spurs, as Matty Cash and Lucas Digne operated as wing-backs, but they struggled to get beyond the half-way line as Villa lacked control in the first period.
Ollie Watkins was a handful for Christian Romero, but Villa’s in-form striker rarely had a sight of goal throughout the match. Come half-time, neither side managed a shot on target.
Spurs defender Mick van de Ven came off injured after he blocked an effort from Leon Bailey inside the box, but it didn’t affect Spurs, who took the lead through Maddison. Pape Sarr picked the playmaker out inside the box, who tapped in from close range.
Johnson doubled the lead after Son Heung-min assisted him inside the box. It was an unavoidable goal to concede from Villa’s point of view as Ezri Konsa gave the ball away cheaply. Son and Werner added late goals to condemn Villa to a terrible result on home turf.
Player ratings
Emi Martinez
He’ll be furious to be on the team who shipped four at home. Not a whole lot he could’ve done to keep the score down. 6
Matty Cash
Cash impressed in the first half. He made a number of key tackles and looked likeliest to create a goal for Villa from the right. 6
Ezri Konsa
An uncharacteristically poor game from Konsa. He gave the ball away which led to Spurs’ second goal of the game. 4
Clement Lenglet
Played in the middle of Villa’s back five and came off at 2-0 in the 58th minute. 4
Pau Torres
Far from his best performance either. A day to forget for the whole squad. 4
Lucas Digne
Like Cash, Digne was strong on the left in the first half and kept a lid on Pedro Porro, who has been in fine form for Tottenham this season. 6
John McGinn
Lost composure after Spurs went 2-0 up and picked up a red card for a reckless foul. 4
Douglas Luiz
Played several excellent balls over the top of Tottenham’s defence to set Watkins on his way. The midfield became overrun in the second half. 6
Youri Tielemans
Replaced by Moussa Diaby just after the hour mark. Didn’t have much of an impact in the match. 5
Leon Bailey
Bailey saw less of the ball today because Villa played a back five, meaning he had to come inside to support Watkins rather than stay in space. 5
Ollie Watkins
A threat in behind for the Tottenham defence, but he didn’t get a sight of goal. 6
SUBS
Nicolo Zaniolo (for Lenglet, 58′): Looked bright when he came on. 6
Moussa Diaby (for Tielemans, 58′): Saw the ball in spells after coming on. 5
Alex Moreno (for Digne, 58′): Lost the ball for Spurs’ third. 5
Tim Iroegbunam (for Bailey, 69′): Looks like he could be playing away at West Ham next week. 5
Diego Carlos (for Konsa, 85′): N/A
Subs not used: Olsen, Duran, Rogers, Kesler-Hayden.
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