Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win over Tottenham on Wednesday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to give us a big boost in morale heading into the final game of the Premier League season.
Steven Bergwijn gave the hosts an early lead, but Villa responded well as a Sergio Reguilon own goal and an Ollie Watkins strike gave us a half-time lead.
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Unlike in recent weeks where we’ve been unable to protect a lead, Villa held on to pick up all three points in north London, and while Tottenham had chances of their own, we certainly could have made life more comfortable had we not been so wasteful in front of goal.
Nevertheless, a win’s a win and we’ll look to take that confidence and momentum into Sunday’s season finale against Chelsea in front of a Villa Park crowd.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Tottenham
Emiliano Martinez, 8 – Made some important saves throughout the course of the game, albeit ones that we expect him to make. One last shot at breaking the clean sheet record on Sunday.
Ezri Konsa, 8 – Moved to right back for this one, and put in a solid shift despite the positional shift. Kept things tight on that flank to frustrate Tottenham.
Kortney Hause, 7 – A good performance as he made back-to-back starts this week. Offers good depth and showed that he can certainly fit in well and adapt even with his defensive partner changing.
Tyrone Mings, 8.5 – This performance proved just how important the towering centre-half is to us. Admittedly, he does make mistakes and needs to cut them out, but ultimately his presence, leadership and defensive quality make a big difference for us at the back.
Matt Targett, 8 – Mr. Reliable produced another top display as he defended well and got forward when possible. Kept things tidy without doing anything extravagant, but that’s what we need from him in a solid performance.
John McGinn, 8.5 – Superb. Got about the pitch relentlessly as he was important in both phases of the game. Broke play up well and showed strength, desire and a brilliant work ethic to offer attacking quality with a few efforts from distance thrown in too.
Marvelous Nakamba, 7 – At fault in the lead up to Tottenham’s goal as he was caught out and we paid the price. However, credit is due for the way in which he responded thereafter, as he was constantly breaking things up in midfield and gave us more solidity in that department.
Bertrand Traore, 7 – His footwork and close control is a thing of beauty at times, but he needs to add a cutting edge and clinical touch in the final third. If he can improve on that aspect of his game, he’s going to be a real asset for us. Did really well to apply pressure and force the mistake which led to the winning goal.
Jack Grealish, 7.5 – Brilliant to have him back in the starting line-up, as although he wasn’t directly involved in the two goals, he was a creative spark for us in the attacking phase. A good 72 minutes in the bank in midweek, he’ll be hoping to get a full 90 on Sunday in front of a limited Villa faithful at home against Chelsea.
Anwar El Ghazi, 6.5 – Showed glimpses of quality, but too quiet in general and fluffed his lines a couple of times when in dangerous positions, be it a chance to score himself or to put on an assist for a teammate.
Ollie Watkins, 7.5 – A real handful for the Tottenham defence with his movement and runs in behind, and he took his goal brilliantly. That’s 14 Premier League goals this season for our frontman, and he’s proving to be worth every bit of his transfer fee.
Substitutes:
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Came on to steady the ship in the second half and give us more control over proceedings. Did well, and ultimately did his job as we secured all three points.
Carney Chukwuemeka, N/A – Wonderful to see him make his senior debut. Didn’t look fazed one bit as he settled nicely and even had time to go close to scoring as his effort hit the post.
Jaden Philogene-Bidace, N/A – Similarly to Chukwuemeka, a real touch seeing him make his debut and it’s hoped the pair have big futures at Villa along with the others coming through the current youth group.