Son Heung-Mein stars as Superb Spurs scythe through 10-men Villa to boost UCL hopes.

 Monday 11 March 2024

Gameweek 28, Game 6/10

Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham B6 6HE

Aston Villa Vs Tottenham Hotspur

Son Heung-Mein stars as Superb Spurs scythe through 10-men Villa to boost UCL hopes.

Spurs continued their hunt for a UCL spot, by running riot against 10-men Aston Villa at Villa Park.

MATCH PREVIEW:

It's a huge game for both teams, as the tussle for a UCL spot continues, with hosts, Aston Villa welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Villa Park. The Villians are looking to do the double over Tottenham Hotspur for the second time in 2 years. In the reverse fixture that ended 2-1 in favour of Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ollie Watkins & Pau Torres scored as Villa came from behind to win on the 26th November. Both teams came into this game on the back of great runs in the league. Villa are chasing a 4th straight win in a row, despite their goalless draw with Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam where Ezri Konsa got sent off for two bookable offences, whereas Spurs saw off Crystal Palace at home to restart their winning push for a UCL spot. Before this clash, Villa were 5 points clear of their guests by winning 3-in-a-row in the league. Who will come out on top in this fiery clash? Can Spurs cut the gap to 2 points or will Villa cement themselves at 4th place in the league?

TEAM NEWS:

3 changes for Aston Villa from the stalemate at Ajax, with John McGinn, Matty Cash and Leon Bailey starting in a 5-3-2 formation, as the trio replace Tim Iroegbunam, Morgan Rogers and Moussa Diaby, who drop to the bench.

There are also 3 changes for Spurs from their London Derby win over Palace, with Brennan Johnson, Pape Sarr replacing Rodrigo Bentancur and Timo Werner. And the great news was that Pedro Porro returns from injury as he replaces Emerson Royal at RB.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Ollie Watkins: The 28-year-old is having a phenomenal season with Aston Villa, with 16 goals and 10 assists, having scored against Forest in the 4-2 Midlands Derby win, is he to score against Spurs once more? He hasn't scored against them at Villa Park, but will today be his time?

Son Heung-Mein: The 31-year-old Korean is having a wonderful season with Spurs. Stepping up with the departure of Harry Kane and forming a wonderful combination with summer signing James Maddison, he has scored 14 goals and provided 8 assists. Having carried the bulk load for his team in terms of goal contributions, can he score against Villa, having got two goals in his previous 2 games?

KICK-OFF: FIRST HALF

The tussle for the UCL spot begins!! What an intriguing contest we have in our hands today! It is time to find out who will dominate the game right from the outset. Following the opening exchanges, there's been nothing interesting so far, but the first chance came on the half-hour mark, when Matty Cash couldn't find the back of the net from the penalty area. Big chance for Aston Villa to go ahead. And they missed another chance on the stroke of half-time with Lucas Digne missing a chance to nod in from McGinn's corner. Goalless at the break. Nothing really special happening for both teams.

Cash had Villa's best chance in the first half, but he couldn't convert it.

KICK-OFF: SECOND HALF

The first half hasn't got everyone entertained, let's see what the second half can provide!! And already, Villa press on Spurs at the start, when Leon Bailey's tricky work was evaded away by Micky Van De Ven, only for the young Dutch CB, to get himself hurt in the process, and hence, had to be replaced by January signing, Radu Dragusin. And after that, Spurs stormed in front, with an unlikely source. Porro, skips across nicely, finds Pape Sarr, lovely ball into the box, MADDISON!!! AT LAST, THE BREAKTHROUGH FOR SPURS! AND IT'S THEIR SUMMER SIGNING, JAMES MADDISON, WHO GUIDES SARR'S CROSS BEYOND THE REACH OF EMILIANO MARTINEZ! GREAT MOVEMENT AND GOOD TEAMWORK! Aston Villa 0 - Tottenham Hotspur 1! Can Villa find a way back into the game? They don't often do these, but is there a way back for the Villains?

James Maddison does his signature "BULLSEYE" celebration after scoring the first goal.

3 minutes later, Spurs scored again! Given away by Konsa, and now Kulusevski is on the run! Finds Son, and there's JOHNSON!!! IT'S 2-0 SPURS!! Great counterattack from Dejan Kulusevski, and finished off by Brennan Johnson, who makes no mistake with the finish! It all came from a Villa mistake. Konsa carelessly gave it away and the Swedish winger pounced on the counter and finished off brilliantly by the Welshman. It's Aston Villa 0 - Tottenham Hotspur 2.

Brennan Johnson made it 2-0 to Spurs from the counterattack.

Double blow for Villa as they trail with 30 minutes to play. And their afternoon goes from worst to very bad on 65 minutes. Despite winning the ball, John McGinn fouled Destiny Udogie, with the Italian full-back clutching his calf after the Villa captain kicked him. And the argument broke out at both camps. McGinn was in the heat of the moment and trouble struck.

John McGinn was unhappy after fouling Udogie as he gets into an argument with the Spurs players.

What does Chris Kavanagh do about it? IT'S RED!! IT IS A RED CARD FOR JOHN MCGINN! AND VILLA ARE DOWN TO 10 MEN AFTER THIS! ABSOLUTE FURY FOR THE HOSTS  and what's even worse is that McGinn must serve a 3-game ban in the league after this game.

The outraged John McGinn was shown a red card for his bad challenge on Udogie on 65 minutes

Even with the 10 men, Villa continued to defend and eliminate any attack from Spurs. And they did create a chance on 84 minutes when substitute Nicolo Zaniolo fired the shots straight at Vicario, as the Italian GK palms it away for a corner for Villa. And after that save, he immediately signalled the physios to come and help him. 

Vicario was receiving treatment after he saved Zaniolo's shot.

With the stoppage time set for 9 minutes, Spurs got the third. Here's Porro, neat work to find Kulusevski, and crosses into the box, SON!! SON HEUNG-MEIN CONTINUES HIS BRILLIANT SEASON AS THE SKIPPER GETS THE THIRD GOAL AND KILLS OFF ANY HOPES OF AN ASTON VILLA COMEBACK!! Surely that's the 3 points sealed! 14th goal of the PL season for Son, as Spurs close the gap to just 2 points behind Villa.

Son Heung-Mein with his signature "Square" celebration after scoring the 3rd goal.

3 minutes later, Spurs sealed the points with the 4th goal. Great run from Bentancur, as he sizes up his options, Werner, onto Son, cut-back, WERNER!! IT'S 4!! 4-STAR PERFORMANCE FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR!! Goals in back-to-back games for Timo Werner as Spurs seal victory at Villa Park, with an incredible team performance. The defence shone well, despite Micky Van De Ven getting subbed off due to injury.

Timo Werner, Højbjerg, and Pedro Porro celebrate the 4th goal scored by Werner in added time.

FULL-TIME AT VILLA PARK!! INCREDIBLE DISPLAY FROM THE VISITORS AS THEY CLOSE THE GAP TO JUST 2 POINTS BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND ASTON VILLA!!

    PLAYER OF THE MATCH: SON HEUNG-MEIN

Son Heung-Mein continued his brillant form in the league with a goal and two assists.

What a player he is!! The 31-year-old was on-top of his game today, making great runs to support the players and he never gave the Villa defence a break from his pace and technical ability. Can he continue his terrific form next week?