Pain and points at White Hart Lane: Tottenham Hotspur 0 – Aston Villa 1

This time last week, with QPR at home and Spurs away to come, even the most unrealistic of Villa fans would have taken four points. The Villans have managed just that, perhaps not the way that would have been anticipated. For all the frustration at not getting three points against QPR on Tuesday, there were scenes of pure elation from the Villa fans, players and Tim Sherwood in particular at the final whistle at White Hart Lane. Furthermore, the visiting Villans deserved to take the three points home.

The win has come at a cost: Ciaran Clark and Gabby Agbonlahor trudged off with injuries that will probably rule them out of the FA Cup semi-final next weekend.

One man Tim Sherwood will be desperate to keep off the treatment table is match winner Christian Benteke. The big Belgian was unplayable and the Tottenham defenders will surely be glad to see the back of him; in fact, they spent most of the game looking at the back of him as he either raced away or held the ball up in front of them. Benteke was irrepressible at White Hart Lane and he is also the one Aston Villa player who is currently irreplaceable. For the third season in succession, it looks like the Belgian’s goals could keep Villa up.

Without a doubt the striker of the season in the Premier League is Harry Kane, who approached the game looking to become the first Spurs’ striker to score thirty goals since Jurgen Klinsmann in 1995-96. Kane’s day will undoubtedly come this campaign, although it wasn’t to be yesterday because a different striker took the plaudits.

Tim Sherwood talked down the fact that the game was against his old team. This win will undoubtedly mean more to him than any other he’s gained as Villa manager so far. The points were much-needed and he proved to Tottenham Hotspur that he is a manager with a big future. His sacking by Spurs will obviously have hurt but I bet he feels a whole lot better about it now!

The Villans started well, with Vorm having to punch away a dangerous ball into the box and Grealish having a shot blocked by Fazio. The Villa youngster did not look particularly phased by his first away start in the Premier League.

Spurs grew into the game and Kieran Richardson was lucky when he showed indecision on the ball and was robbed by Andros Townsend. The ball eventually made its way to Chadli, who found himself offside. Richardson had had a bad game on Tuesday against QPR and, at the start of yesterday’s match, was doing nothing to ease Villa fans’ concerns about his selection.

Harry Kane tried to lose Ron Vlaar in the eighth minute but the Dutchman stuck with him and Ciaran Clark managed to mop up.

The Irish international was in the thick of it again soon after, making a great headed clearance from a Spurs’ corner. This came at a cost though as Villa’s number six landed awkwardly and was forced off after seventeen minutes. Clark was replaced by Baker, a move that made sense due to him being a left-sided centre back but did leave the visitors with three of their four defenders severely lacking match sharpness.

Soon after, Benteke was in the ascendency and he set up Leandro Bacuna, who badly skewed his shot wide.

The Dutchman was then in the action defensively, tackling Danny Rose as he was growing into the game. Bacuna stayed down but after some treatment continued, which was no doubt a relief to Tim Sherwood who would have been reluctant to make another defensive change.

The visitors were looking for Benteke at every juncture and a clever Cleverley diagonal led to a badly mis-timed swing by the Belgian. He failed to connect with the ball and for someone of his ability it was a chance to get a shot away.

At the other end, Danny Rose forced Brad Guzan into the first meaningful save of the game after twenty-seven minutes. Guzan saved Rose’s low drive with his feet at the near post.

A harsh offside call stopped Agbonlahor after he was put through by Cleverley. The Manchester United loanee looked devoid of confidence under Paul Lambert but Sherwood has revitalised him and he is a player the club must sign in the summer.

The debatable offside call was forgotten three minutes later as Christan Benteke, the man of the moment, glanced home a clever header from a Leandro Bacuna cross against which Vorm stood no chance. Bacuna has deficiencies in his game but crossing is not one of them.  He is another man who has grasped his chance under Sherwood. While the Villa boys had the advantage, most felt they would need another goal after witnessing their defensive frailties on Tuesday night.

Spurs came back into the game, without troubling Guzan. The most the Villa number one had to do was paw down a Harry Kane strike.

The away side was dealing with Spurs reasonably comfortably and nearly doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time. Benteke won what felt like his hundredth flick on of the first half and Agbonlahor’s clever touch and raw speed got him past the hosts’ defence, allowing him to unleash a well-struck low drive which cannoned off the post.

There were no changes for either side at the break.

Ron Vlaar shot well over the bar after the ball had landed at his feet from a corner.

In the fifty-second minute Townsend manipulated space and flashed a cross across goal. Fortunately for Villa, Kane could not quite get there.

Baker, who had settled well into the game after a shaky start, made a good block from another Danny Rose strike. Spurs were certainly having a decent spell.

Carlos Sanchez picked up a reasonably harsh booking in the fifty-eighth minute.

Shortly after, Kane curled a clever left-footed shot just over the bar.

The Spurs’ boss decided to change things, with Soldado introduced for Chadli.

Sherwood made a change of his own, replacing Grealish, whose close control and clever use of the ball was certainly on show at White Hart Lane, with Andi Weimann.

The home side enjoyed a lot of possession but the Villa boys were handling them; the industrious Fabian Delph seemed to be popping up everywhere both offensively and defensively and, with Benteke on the pitch, I always fancied us on the break.

Agbonlahor injured his hamstring and was forced off after trying to run the injury off. He was replaced by Joe Cole after sixty-six minutes and Weimann moved up front.

Spurs were huffing and puffing but the Villa defence was repelling any attacks. On Tuesday, Ramsey changing his system seemed to flummox the Villans but Pochettino’s change to a flat 4-4-2 only seemed to make the Villa players dig in.

Guzan was sharp off his line from a Kane pass in the eighty-first minute. Guzan has had a few critics but it was moments like this that really relieved the pressure late on in the game and helped the outfield players.

Baker and Vlaar continued to deal with balls into the danger area, both deserving huge credit after lengthy spells on the treatment table.

Pochettino gave American full back DeAndre Yedlin a debut from the bench and also brought on Erik Lamela, with Vlad Chiriches and Andros Townsend making way. The ironic cheers when Chiriches was replaced were pretty harsh considering he had spent the game playing out of position at right back.

By now Kieran Richardson, who himself had been booed by a section of Villa fans in the previous game, was performing at a good level and the last thing he will have wanted to see was two tricky players come on down his side.

The Villans were still posing a threat, while Spurs pushed forward to no avail.

Vlaar headed a Cole corner wide and Weimann had a weak shot comfortably saved by Vorm.

A minute after Weimann’s tame drive, Fabian Delph wriggled his way through on goal. The Villa skipper was perhaps fouled but stayed on his feet, which allowed Vorm time to close Delph down and his right-footed shot was saved by the Dutch keeper. It was a big chance gone.

Vlaar had to be at full stretch defending against Lamela, he looked determined to hold on to the clean sheet, as did the rest of the Villa side.

The announcement of five minutes of stoppage time was greeted with angst by the Villa fans and there was a scare when Guzan made a very smart save from Soldado. Ultimately, it was academic, as the Spaniard was offsid.

After nintey-four minutes, Sanchez was sent off for a second bookable offence after sliding in on Rose. His first booking was harsh but this was a definite booking and the Colombian looked crestfallen, knowing he would miss next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final.

Spurs pushed and a late free kick into the box was expertly claimed by Guzan. It was a brilliant take and the final meaningful action of the game.

Finally, after seven minutes of stoppage time that felt like seven hours, the final whistle blew. Cue the scenes of celebration. Benteke’s tenth goal in the last eight games had been enough to take the three points.  It was a big win, with a big team performance to match.

Ratings:

Brad Guzan – 7

He made one key save from Rose and looked back to his best with his command of his area.

Leandro Bacuna – 7

He provided a great assist and was effective going both ways. He more than matched Rose, who was Spurs’ biggest threat.

Ron Vlaar – 8

He repelled most of the danger and another ninety minutes with a clean sheet will do him good.

Ciaran Clark – 6

He was defending well before injury ruined his day after seventeen minutes.

Kieran Richardson – 6

He was shaky in the first half an hour but recovered and contributed to the clean sheet.

Carlos Sanchez – 6

Sanchez worries me sometimes when in possession but he offered good protection to the back four. The red card will have hurt him.

Tom Cleverley – 6.5

The loanee is a real work horse, who is also tidy on the ball and growing under Sherwood.

Fabian Delph – 7.5

The skipper seemed to be everywhere and was unfortunate not to score. He is our real leader now.

Jack Grealish – 7

The youngster showed his deft touch and was unfazed on the ball so he should keep his place at Wembley.

Gabby Agbonlahor – 7

Unlucky with shot off the post, he linked with Benteke well. The veteran could be a big miss on a big Wembley pitch.

Christian Benteke – 9 (MOTM)

He scored a well-taken goal, held the ball every time he got it and won his flick ons. It was a real number nine’s performance.

Subs:

Nathan Baker – 7.5

He settled himself and showed what he is all about with some gutsy defending.

Andi Weimann – 5.5

The Austrian didn’t really influence proceedings but was a willing runner. He could have done a little more with his tame shot at Vorm.

Joe Cole – 5.5

Like Weimann, Cole had no time to influence the game, although he did nothing wrong.

 

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