Tottenham put in a crucial performance away at Villa Park and their 2-1 win drags them out of the relegation zone. With practically all players putting in a standout effort, here are our five biggest winners from today’s game.
Spirits were raised all throughout North London as Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 victory away to Aston Villa gave them their second victory in a row for the first time since August, and much more importantly, lifted the club out of the relegation zone.
The mood was less jubilant in the East End, as West Ham’s 3-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday opened the doors for Spurs to take the advantage in the relegation battle.
Tottenham’s impressive performance, albeit against a second-string Villa team, sees them pip their London rivals to 17th place in the table.
A brilliant finish from Connor Gallagher earned the ex-Chelsea man his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur and shortly after Mathys Tel tee’d up the perfect ball for Richarlison to head home.
Emiliano Buendía managed to squeeze in a stoppage time goal for Villa from their first real chance of the game but it was too little too late for the East Midlands club.
In a performance where we could find something positive to say about any one of the starting XI, it’ll be difficult to single out the definitive standout individuals but nonetheless, here are our five biggest winners from Tottenham’s victory at Villa Park.
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Connor Gallagher had his best Tottenham game
In one of his early press conferences, Roberto De Zerbi said that he’d like to see the Connor Gallagher that played for Chelsea.
Well, it looks like last night Gallagher put in a performance that reached his best levels because he was Spurs most important player on the pitch for all of the 90 minutes.
His most memorable contribution will of course be his outstanding finish taken outside of the box that put Spurs one goal up within the first 15 minutes and gave them a platform to build their eventual victory on.
But perhaps more than that Gallagher quite literally ran the Spurs midfield and was absolutely crucial for the Tottenham press while his physicality allowed Spurs to win the midfield battle and find comfortable possession against Villa. Gallagher seemed to have unlocked his bundles of athleticism and didn’t shy away from leading the press just to sprint back and make a crucial defensive contribution.
Although understandably, with the absence of Xavi Simons, some issues with creativity persisted, Gallagher’s stores of energy and sheer willingness to try and win the ball more than compensated for any technical limitations.
Since his regular involvement with the starting lineup Spurs press became the most effective one in the league, winning the ball high up the pitch an average of 5.3 times per match.
Gallagher showed the exact kind of performance and energy Spurs will need to stay up.
Richarlison scored the winner for Spurs
Richarlison made his own statement to Roberto De Zerbi and gave the Italian a big dilemma with future selections. Richarlison’s performance against Villa is a big argument why he should be the starting striker for Roberto De Zerbi even if Dominic Solanke returns to fitness.
In his usual fashion, Richarlison put himself about literally everywhere on the pitch and was a proper nuisance to the Villa defence. He was also crucial to the newfound energy in the Spurs press.
Richarlison’s off ball runs created space for Mathys Tel and Randal Kolo Muani to attack and his presence in the box turned to be decisive. He headed home what turned out to be the winning goal from a perfectly teed up Mathys Tel cross.
Above all, the Brazilian forward seems to be relishing the challenge and will most likely be crucial in these last few games of the season.
Micky van de Ven‘s last-ditch tackle saved Spurs
In all fairness the entirety of the Spurs backline deserves a huge shoutout. All of the back four produced an incredibly competent defensive performance which completely shut out the Villa attack and limited their chances to 0.0 xG before the Buendía goal.
But in a sea of good performances Micky van de Ven was the standout defensive one. His clever tackling, big presence in the box and even more so his last ditch challenge on Tammy Abraham made sure that Spurs’ defence stood for as long as it did.
From the two centre-backs Kevin Danso also deserves a mention since it was his long throw that eventually resulted in that goal for Connor Gallagher but his cheap giveaway head to be bailed out so we’re going with Micky here.
Joao Palhinha was a monster for Tottenham
Palhinha was the other half in the much maligned “Bentinnha” double pivot. But the same issues with ball progression which plagued the team under Thomas Frank were basically gone from their midfield performance against Villa (a damning verdict on the Danish coach’s abilities).
Palhinha’s defensive contributions and willingness to get into duels and win them gave Villa a lot of trouble in accessing their attacking third. It looks like the build-up structure set up by Roberto De Zerbi is giving the players solutions for ball progression meaning they don’t have to rely on their own creativity as much.
This gives players like Palhinha the chance to show their best sliding and tackling selves while mitigating their weaknesses.
Mathys Tel is becoming Tottenham’s bright spark
Mathys Tel was his usual dauntless and industrial self and put in a great attacking first half performance.
Outstanding movement in the final third, willingness to take his man on as well as really good off-ball defensive contributions earn him his flowers this match.
Plus it was the French winger that produced the cross for the Richarlison goal so without a doubt one of the better performances of the season from Mathys Tel.