Aston Villa secured a brilliant 2-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday as we started the New Year in brilliant style through goals from Emi Buendia and Douglas Luiz.
Unai Emery saw his players do an excellent job throughout defensively to contain Tottenham’s attacking threat, and while the home side certainly weren’t at their best, we undoubtedly added to their frustration.
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Villa needed to add more quality to our play in the final third in the second half and we did just that as Buendia and Luiz got on the scoresheet with two top finishes as we went on to control the game in the latter stages.
Importantly though, and Emery will no doubt be delighted about this aspect too, we maintained our defensive solidity throughout and secured a hard-fought clean sheet to go with three crucial points.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Tottenham:
Robin Olsen, 7 – Was under pressure in this one after another shaky performance last time out, but he was much improved on this occasion both defensively and with his distribution. Didn’t have a great deal to do, but stepped up and kept things tight when needed.
Ashley Young, 7.5 – Another brilliant shift from the Villa stalwart, as not only did he defend diligently throughout, but he made some key interventions including clearing an effort from Kane off the line in a big moment in the game.
Ezri Konsa, 7 – A solid performance as part of an impressive display from the backline as a whole. Stepped in and intervened when needed to keep Tottenham contained.
Tyrone Mings, 8 – Played a crucial role in keeping Kane quiet, but was impressively aggressive in his approach as he didn’t give Tottenham any time to play in and around our defence. A top display.
Lucas Digne, 7 – Got caught out on occasion with the long ball over the top or the diagonal pass, but overall it was a good shift from the Frenchman as he defended resolutely and got forward when possible too in order to add width to our play.
John McGinn, 7.5 – A tireless effort from the Villa captain as he worked hard from start to finish off the ball. Importantly though, he added quality to his performance and made a decisive contribution with the through ball to find Luiz to make it 2-0.
Douglas Luiz, 8.5 – Composed and provided quality throughout. Building a really important and impressive partnership with Kamara in the middle of the pitch, as they controlled the tempo and got stuck in when needed out of possession to provide the backline with protection. Added a superb goal to cap off his performance as he got forward and produced a brilliant finish.
Boubacar Kamara, 8.5 – Another classy performance as he was excellent on and off the ball. Battled well in midfield and made vital interventions in and around the box, while he was accurate and quick with his distribution. Makes such a pivotal difference in midfield in both phases of the game.
Emiliano Buendia, 7.5 – Not his greatest game as he struggled in the first half to have a positive influence on our play. However, stuck to his task and was eventually rewarded as he kept his cool and stroked the ball into the back of the net to break the deadlock and give us an important lead. A big moment as although he’s always looking to be positive, needs to have a bigger impact on games.
Leon Bailey, 6 – A frustrating game as although he showed good intent and direct play with his driving runs forward with the ball, he couldn’t add an end product to his running. Hopefully will have better days and more impactful performances.
Ollie Watkins, 8 – Couldn’t quite find a finish of his own as he had a couple of decent chances, but put in a hugely important shift for the team. His movement off the ball was excellent, battled hard up top to hold up the ball and showed his selflessness and quality in the lead up to our first goal to set up Buendia.
Substitutes:
Matty Cash, 6 – Helped us see out the win as he played ahead of Young on the right side. Did his job well to help us keep things tight.
Philippe Coutinho, N/A – Decent impact as he looked a threat at times going through the middle.
Calum Chambers, N/A – Added physical presence and broke things up to keep Tottenham in check.
Danny Ings, N/A – Did well closing down and applying pressure on the Spurs defence in the latter stages as they played out from the back.
Jan Bednarek, N/A