Aston Villa 2 Tottenham 1 - Report
Villa kept their hopes of European football very much alive with victory over Tottenham.
Goals from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz ultimately earned Unai Emery’s men a sixth straight home Premier League win.
But they were made to endure a nervy finish after Harry Kane slotted home a controversial 90th minute penalty.
Victory moved Villa up to seventh in the table, level on points with Tottenham with two matches to play.
Analysis
Emery’s men were cruising to victory before Kane netted the first goal for an opposing team at Villa Park since February 18.
It came after the Tottenham captain tumbled over the slide of Villa keeper Emi Martinez. Referee Peter Bankes had a good view and initially decided against awarding a spot-kick, only to be convinced by VAR Jarred Gillet to reconsider.
Son Heung-Min then briefly thought he had snatched a point with virtually the last kick of stoppage time, only to be denied by an offside flag.
That was a key theme of an afternoon when Villa limited the South Korean and Kane to few chances. The latter’s biggest, before the penalty, came after a mistake by Luiz sent him through on goal, only to be denied by Martinez.
Villa missed several chances to extend their lead after Ramsey fired them into an early lead, before Luiz eventually did with a 72nd minute free-kick.
It is the first time since 1993 Villa have won six straight home matches. Their final match in B6, against Brighton, may well be a play-off for European football.
Tottenham arrived having not won away from home since January and Villa, who made one change to their line-up with Leon Bailey replacing Bertrand Traore, would have been confident of a return to winning ways after consecutive defeats at Manchester United and Wolves.
They certainly began in that manner, dominating possession before Ramsey fired them into an early lead.
The goal owed a little to good work by referee Bankes, who allowed the hosts to play on after Ollie Watkins was felled by Cristian Romero after flicking Alex Moreno’s pass into the path of Ramsey. From there the midfielder found Bailey before advancing into the box to send the return cross first-time into the bottom corner.
That was the only effort either team had on goal for the opening half-hour, with Tottenham caught out time and again by Villa’s offside trap.
The one occasion they appeared to have beaten it, Son rounded Martinez but then fired against the post and after the goalkeeper had then denied Kane on the rebound, the flag was eventually raised.
Villa’s next attempt on goal should have brought the second. Buendia played Watkins in on the left of the box but when he crossed, Bailey was unable to get enough power in the finish and Forster was able to make the save low down to his left. Moments later, Emerson was left breathing a sigh of relief when referee Bankes and VAR ruled his sliding challenge wasn’t worthy of a penalty.
The hosts were finishing strongly and another chance went begging when Watkins was unable to get a defining touch on Moreno’s volleyed cross. Emi Buendia then sent an effort crashing against the bar from Ramsey’s pull back.
The playmaker went close at the start of the second half when he stepped inside the visiting defence and hit a curling effort which Forster pushed wide.
Tottenham were yet to register an attempt on goal at that point but the fragility of Villa’s one-goal advantage was demonstrated when Luiz was caught napping by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with a touch which sent Kane through on goal. A leveller looked inevitable but Martinez stood firm and the England skipper sent his finish straight at the keeper.
The visitors were starting to find their rhythm, however, and Dejan Kulusevski was close to making an immediate impact after coming off the bench when he curled an effort just wide of the far post.
Things were threatening to get nervy but with 18 minutes to go Luiz eased the tension. Romero brought down Watkins 25 yards out and though Forster got a hand to the Brazilian’s curling effort, he could only push the ball into the roof of the net.
Villa looked to be coasting to victory after that but things took a late twist when, after a lengthy VAR check and referee Bankes consulting the monitor, Spurs were awarded a penalty after Kane went over the challenge of Martinez. Kane beat the keeper from the spot but Villa held out to take the win.
Key Moments
8 GOAL Jacob Ramsey gives Villa the perfect start, firing Leon Bailey’s cross into the bottom corner.
72 GOAL Villa double their lead as Douglas Luiz curls home his fifth Premier League goal of the season.
90 GOAL Harry Kane fires home from the spot.
Teams
Villa (4-4-2): Martinez, Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno, Bailey (Kamara 68), McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey, Buendia (Duran 68), Watkins (Cash 90+1) Subs not used: Carlos, Chambers, Digne, Dendoncker, Traore, Olsen (gk).
Tottenham (3-4-3): Forster, Emerson, Romero, Lenglet, Porro (Danjuma 81), Hojbjerg, Skipp (Sarr 62), Davies (Perisic 90+1), Son, Kane, Richarlison (Kulusevski 62) Subs not used: Sanchez, Moura, Bissouma, Craig, Austin (gk).
