Analysis: Aston Villa show off capital gains on return to London

The mood during Sunday night’s journey back from the capital will have been markedly different, having continued their renaissance under new boss Unai Emery with an excellent 2-0 victory at Tottenham.

This was Villa’s third win in four league matches since the Spaniard took charge and their fourth in six games since the dismal October night at Fulham which spelt the end for his predecessor Steven Gerrard.

It was also, quite comfortably, their most complete performance of a season which suddenly feels alive with possibility.

From hovering just above the relegation zone when Emery arrived on November 1, they are now seven points clear of the bottom three and just two points outside the top half.

Nobody, not least Emery, is kidding themselves there remains plenty of work still to be done. Yet a fixture list which now features four straight matches against teams in the bottom half over the next month, starting with Wednesday’s derby against Wolves, would appear to offer the chance to climb further upward.

Football is rarely so simple as that, of course, yet one thing which can be said for certain is confidence among players has not been higher since the start of the campaign.

While the national analysis might have been focused chiefly on Tottenham’s struggles – and there is no doubt Antonio Conte’s team looked woefully short of inspiration – Villa were impressive in the manner they shackled their hosts in the first half and then pounced when their opportunity arrived in the second half.

The build-up to the match from Villa’s perspective had all been about whether their Argentinian World Cup winner Emi Martinez would make his return to the team.

But instead it was Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris, the loser in Doha a fortnight previously, who was involved in the game’s key moment along with Martinez’s countryman Emi Buendia.

When Douglas Luiz took aim from distance five minutes after the break, Lloris failed to hold the shot and was then beaten to the rebound by Ollie Watkins, who immediately found Buendia to score his second Premier League goal of the season.

It looked on the surface a simple case of goalkeeping error and there is no doubt the France international should have done far better. Yet it is also true Villa were aware of Lloris’ tendency to spill shots back into the danger zone and Watkins had been put on alert pre-match by Emery, for whom no detail is left uncovered. The head coach’s decision to keep Martinez on the bench and retain faith in Robin Olsen, who had conceded 14 goals in his first four appearances for the club, might have raised eyebrows when the teams were announced but by the final whistle there could be no arguments it was the right decision.

Olsen looked emboldened by the confidence shown in him and though he did not have a serious shot to save through the 90 minutes, his assured handling was the foundation for everything in front of him. It is highly likely Martinez will be restored to the line-up for the visit of Wolves but for the club’s No.2 this was a timely riposte to the critics.

Emery made another savvy move by keeping Ashley Young in the team at right-back and it was the veteran who was in the right place to head Harry Kane’s first half effort off the line. The decision to then employ Matty Cash in a more attacking role from midway through the second half also gave Villa more impetus.

In what was the consummate team performance, meanwhile, the real star could be found in the middle of the pitch in the shape of Boubacar Kamara.

Now fully recovered from the injury which saw him miss the final weeks of Gerrard’s reign, the free transfer signing from Marseille is starting to look every inch the class performer. Good in the Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool, he was even better here, constantly winning the ball in midfield and showing a keen eye for a pass. Never flustered and able to control the tempo, he is the kind of player Villa have needed for years.

There is a nice partnership developing too, with Luiz, for whom this was arguably his finest performance in a Villa shirt. A common criticism of the Brazilian has been a tendency to play it safe but that was certainly not the case with 17 minutes remaining when he received the ball from Kamara, raced forward and then, after laying a pass off to McGinn, continued his run into the box in time to collect the return and send a neat finish beyond Lloris and into the net. From that point there was no way back for Tottenham and by the end the scoreline slightly flattered the hosts.

If there was a disappointment for Emery it was the fact he may struggle to field the same XI against Wolves. McGinn, who looks a rejuvenated figure, will be assessed for a hamstring injury while Luiz and defender Ezri Konsa were also forced off in the closing stages.

But that may create chances for others. The five second-half changes made here did not diminish the team’s performance. Indeed, if there was anything which symbolised the recent transformation in Villa it was the sight of Philippe Coutinho, on in place of Buendia, racing back to recover the ball in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Right now, Villa are a team with momentum. Maintaining it is the next challenge.