After watching Brentford hand them an apologetic gift for the Thomas Frank debacle in the form of a 3-0 thrashing of rivals West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur finally took care of business in a big game, defeating old top four rivals Aston Villa 2-1 on Sunday night in the Premier League to officially dig themselves out of the relegation places.
Spurs are not out of the woods just yet, but there is a real optimism in the air around the club for the first time since the beginning of the season when they beat Manchester City. New manager Roberto De Zerbi is getting results and getting his players to perform more confidently - and no player has turned it around more profoundly under De Zerbi than Conor Gallagher.
Derided as a monumental waste of money as he floundered miserably in his opening fixtures at the club, Gallagher is now playing the best football of his career since arguably his Crystal Palace days when he was making a name for himself as a top Premier League midfielder.
Conor Gallagher made the difference vs. Aston Villa
Gallagher scored an absolute belter of a goal against Aston Villa to really stamp home his improved form. He did more than just score, playing a genuinely great defensive game as a ball winner, and De Zerbi has truly gotten the best out of Gallagher as a box to box midfielder in ways that his predecessors could not at all.
Tottenham Hotspur still wiffed on the winter transfer window, and the improvements Conor Gallagher is making under Roberto De Zerbi do not change that. But it has been refreshing to see how De Zerbi has been able to turn one of the worst performing players on the team and a huge liability in the middle of the park into someone who is legitimately helping them get points on the board in this Premier League relegation battle.
More than just getting passable performances out of him, De Zerbi has turned Gallagher into one of the best players on Spurs right now. Gallagher is creating chances, genuinely impacting games with great individual plays, and maintaining more control over the midfield, particularly defensive control even when playing as a No. 10 in the formation.
Tottenham are now picking up wins on the board as a club, not just scrounging out draws, and while beating the worst team in the league is one thing, taking down Aston Villa is another entirely. Gallagher is a big part of the club's success.