Aston Villa 0 Spurs 4 - Report
Son Heung-min scored a hat-trick as Tottenham condemned Villa to their heaviest defeat of the season.
The South Korea got Antonio Conte’s team off to the perfect start when he fired home inside three minutes at Villa Park.
He completed his treble with two strikes in the space of four second half minutes, after Dejan Kulusevski had extended the advantage.
Villa dominated the opening half after going behind but paid a heavy price for failing to take their chances.
Analysis
Steven Gerrard’s might well have built an unassailable lead themselves with better finishing, while they were also denied by some excellent goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris.
But they were ultimately given a lesson in how to be ruthless by Spurs as they fell to a fourth straight Premier League defeat.
Electric at times in the opening half, Kulusevski’s goal early in the second period ultimately knocked the stuffing out of Villa. When Son put the game beyond doubt, the closing stages became an exercise in damage limitation. Once again, Gerrard’s men failed to deliver a 90-minute performance.
Villa have now lost four matches on the bounce, all to teams in the Premier League’s top eight. Their record over the season against that group now reads 12 defeats in 14 matches.
For the second week running Villa found themselves behind early. This time the defending was nowhere near as chaotic as that which handed Wolves the initiative at Molinuex, if anything Gerrard’s team were a little fortunate.
Yet Ezri Konsa’s defensive header lacked power and when Kane’s shot hit Matty Cash the ball fell perfectly for Son to hammer in a left-footed finish off the post.
Rather than go to pieces, as they had the previous week, Villa’s reaction was impressive and only the reflexes of Lloris prevented them quickly restoring parity.
The France international first parried a low Cash drive before sticking out an instinctive hand to stop Jacob Ramsey adding to his catalogue of eye-catching goals, after the youngster had charged past two defenders into the box.
McGinn was next to test the keeper with a swerving long-range effort which brought a flying save, with Ings then sending an acrobatic effort straight at Lloris after latching on to Philippe Coutinho’s chipped free-kick.
The latter was enjoying his best match for some time and after working his way to the byline, whipped in a left-footed cross which Ollie Watkins headed over the bar. It was a good chance wasted and Ings was guilty of worse when he missed the target arriving unmarked at the far post after Watkins had flicked on a Ramsey cross.
Having dominated since going behind, Villa were nearly hit with a sucker punch when Sergio Reguilon’s shot deflected off the boot of Konsa before being kept out by a combination of Mings and Martinez.
That came as the match entered stoppage time and Lloris’ work was not yet done, the keeper saving from Cash and then, with the final action of the half, denying Coutinho after the playmaker tried to catch him out at the near post from a free-kick.
The importance of that save was rammed home when Tottenham doubled their lead within five minutes of the restart. Not for the first time it all looked a bit too easy for a Villa opponent, Kane flicking on a long ball and Kulusevski firing a shot underneath Mings’ attempted block and inside the far post.
Ings curled a shot just over the bar as Villa looked for a route back but the wind had gone out of their sails and two goals in the space of four minutes from Son definitively killed off any chance of a fightback.
First he raced on to Kane’s flick and sprinted clear of the home defence before blasting a finish beyond Martinez. With Villa reeling, he then completed his treble by lifting a shot into the far corner after Kulusevski had been afforded too much space on the right.
Substitute Leon Bailey should have added a late consolation for Villa but missed the target with the goal gaping.
Key Moments
3 – GOAL Son Heung-min gives Tottenham the perfect start, firing home after the ball falls into his path when Matty Cash blocks Harry Kane’s shot.
50 – GOAL Dejan Kulusevski doubles the visitors’ lead, firing a shot inside the far post after Kane flicks on a long ball.
66 – GOAL Son grabs his second to end the match as a contest, racing on to Kane’s flick before firing past Martinez.
70 – GOAL Son completes his hat-trick, sweeping home Kulusevski’s cross.
Teams
Villa (4-3-1-2): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne (Digne 79), McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey, Coutinho (Buendia 70), Ings (Bailey 70), Watkins Subs not used: Chambers, Young, Nakamba, Sanson, Chukwuemeka, Traore, Olsen (gk).
Tottenham (3-4-2-1): Lloris, Romero, Dier, Davies, Emerson, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Doherty (Reguilon 21), Kulusevski (Bergwijn 84), Son (Moura 77), Kane Subs not used: Sanchez, Winks, Rodon, Sessegnon, White, Gollini (gk).
