Aston Villa suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Tottenham on Sunday, in a major blow to our aspirations of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League.
After a cautious and cagey first half, a quick-fire double from the visitors coupled with a red card for John McGinn effectively killed the contest, with Spurs adding shine to their win late on with two more goals.
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It was a bitterly disappointing and chastening afternoon for Villa, as it’s a defeat that also leaves us just two points ahead of Tottenham in the standings, while they also have a game in hand, and so the pressure will now build on us to respond and try to fend them off, if they were to slip up.
Firstly though, Unai Emery will be looking for a big reaction from his players on Thursday in the second leg of our Europa Conference League round-of-16 clash with Ajax, as defeat in midweek could really start to derail our season and raise more question marks.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Tottenham:
Emi Martinez, 5.5 – Not at fault for much in truth as he was left exposed to some ruthless finishing by an abject defensive display in front of him in a really disappointing team performance.
Ezri Konsa, 4.5 – Villa were poor defensively across the board, but not only did he often look uncomfortable in possession at right-back, he eventually gifted possession to Spurs in the build-up to their second goal. Surely has to play at centre-half alongside Pau moving forward?
Clement Lenglet, 4.5 – Our backline was unable to keep Tottenham at bay in the second half, and Lenglet was replaced in the 58th minute having struggled to cope with the threat posed by the visitors.
Pau Torres, 5 – Nowhere near his best as we were caught out defensively throughout the second half, while he was unable to have his usual calming influence on our play in possession to build out from the back.
Lucas Digne, 5 – Decent enough effort as he limited Tottenham’s threat down that flank, but he was unable to make more of an impact going the other way as we lacked attacking intent and urgency to make any significant inroads.
Matty Cash, 5.5 – Solid shift despite being under pressure given the chatter around him going into the game. Defended resolutely and pushed up when possible.
John McGinn, 4 – Lost his composure for the red card as it was a reckless foul. Was clearly trying to set the tone for us and rally the team by showing more intensity which is what we need from him, but we’ll really miss his presence in the upcoming games now as he serves his suspension.
Douglas Luiz, 5.5 – Overrun in the second half as Spurs swarmed us and started to stroke the ball around with confidence. Played some lovely passes at times and was the only cool head on the ball, but not enough to give us control.
Leon Bailey, 5 – Didn’t really suit him going with a more direct, counter-attacking approach and looked tired as the game went on. Not as effective or influential as we’ve seen him be more consistently this season.
Youri Tielemans, 5 – Didn’t offer much as we couldn’t keep possession and build our play in the way we’ve done so all season. Disappointing for him and us, as we needed more composure and control on the ball.
Ollie Watkins, 5.5 – His movement and work ethic set him apart from others as he was constantly battling away on and off the ball. However, he didn’t really offer much quality or a real goalscoring threat as we couldn’t find a way through Tottenham.
Substitutes:
Moussa Diaby, 4.5 – Offered little after coming on as he couldn’t change the direction of the game and give us a path back into it. Needed more quality from him.
Alex Moreno, 5 – Hard for anyone to come on in those circumstances as we were collapsing defensively, but couldn’t help us shore things up.
Nicolo Zaniolo, 5 – Battled hard off the ball at times and showed flashes of quality, but lacked the decisive impact needed in the context of the game.
Tim Iroegbunam, 5 – Massive couple of weeks for the youngster now with McGinn out suspended. Has to step up and deliver next to Luiz to anchor our midfield and help us maintain control in games.
Diego Carlos, N/A