Tottenham Hotspur are back in the win column, though not under the most impressive of circumstances. Despite a very poor start and an early goal for Aston Villa, Spurs were able to pull off a 2-1 comeback win, aided by a fairly soft red card.
3 things we learned from Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 comeback win over Aston Villa
Aston Villa turned in their best performance in over a month. Then a red card happened.
Villa's start was impressive, and it looked early on like this would be the game where they broke their scoring drought. Christian Benteke had a couple of early chances, missing a diving header in the 11th minute, then hitting the crossbar in the 14th. And not long afterwards, the Villains took the lead.
Charles Nzogbia smoked Danny Rose down the right flank to start the attack, drawing Jan Vertonghen towards him. That opened up some space for Andreas Weimann to run into, Nzogbia found him, and the Villa forward had an easy finish from 12 yards to put his side on top 16 minutes in.
Spurs were the better side for the rest of the half after conceding, but were poor in front of goal. Their best chance came in the 27th minute when Roberto Soldado played Emmanuel Adebayor clear through on goal, but he didn't get enough power behind his shot and Brad Guzan was able to tip wide.
The match was light on action in the second half until the 61st minute, when Jan Vertonghen was booked for an aggressive challenge. Both teams started to get a bit feisty after that, leading to a dispute between Benteke and Ryan Mason, in which Benteke grabbed the face of the Tottenham midfielder. It wasn't anything that could have caused injury, but the referee deemed Benteke's actions worthy of a sending off.
Spurs struggled to create chances even with Villa down to 10 men, but they found an equalizer in the 84th minute off a corner kick. No one tracked a run by Nacer Chadli at the back post, and he got on the end of a deep ball by Erik Lamela and tapped it into the back of the net.
In the final minute of regular time, Villa gave up all of the points in heartbreaking fashion. Carlos Sanchez was whistled for a foul on substitute Andros Townsend 25 yards out, and fellow Spurs sub Harry Kane grabbed the ball, insisting to his teammates that he'd take the free kick. The actual take wasn't perfect -- it hit an Aston Villa defender -- but the result was perfect. The deflection fooled Brad Guzan and sent the ball into the back of the net, helping Spurs to take all three points from Villa Park. The home faithful will probably see it as a bit of a robbery.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Cissokho (Bent 90’), Vlaar, Baker, Lowton, Westwood, Sanchez, Cleverley, Nzogbia (Agbonlahor 74’), Benteke (red 65’), Weimann (Richardson 86’)
Goals: Weimann (16’)
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Rose, Vertonghen, Kaboul, Naughton, Chadli, Mason, Capoue (Townsend 72'), Eriksen (Lamela 46'), Soldado, Adebayor (Kane 58')
Goals: Chadli (84’), Kane (90’)
3 things
1. Spurs are the cure for what ails you - Aston Villa hadn't scored in over 500 minutes coming into this match, looked like scoring from the outset and had their goal after just 16 minutes. This, just one week after Spurs allowed Newcastle United to end their losing streak and grab all three points at White Hart Lane. If your team has a very serious problem you can't seem to fix, just hope Spurs are coming up soon.
2. Pochettino's weird experiment didn't work - Emmanuel Adebayor's a bit unpopular with Spurs supporters, but he got another start on Sunday, and alongside Roberto Soldado. Mauricio Pochettino opted to rest Erik Lamela and play his two veteran strikers, and it really didn't work. This won't stop fans from asking for more time in the Premier League for the man who scored the winner, Harry Kane
3. Putting your hand on an opponent’s face is bad - Benteke’s grab of Mason’s face was hardly dangerous, and because of that, his red card looks a bit soft. But putting your hands on an opponent’s face is always going to result a booking, and usually a red card. Don’t do it! It’s a bad idea!
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