SHERWOOD STICKS IT TO TOTTENHAM AS VILLA GRAB THREE CRUCIAL POINTS

Revenge so sweet for Tim, as Benteke and Villa head towards safety

NO GILET; no problem for Tim Sherwood. Make no bones about it, the Aston Villa manager enjoyed this victory.

Beating the club who ruthlessly relieved him of his duties last summer, on their home patch, as his side took a giant step towards Premier League survival – it does not get much better than that.

He knew it, too, ecstatically saluting the Villa faithful with both fists clenched at the final whistle before shaking Mauricio Pochettino’s hand.

Sherwood went back for more, striding on to the pitch he called home last season for another double-fisted celebration as Villa supporters cheered wildly.

All this without his trademark body-warmer on a mild day in north London.

‘This is my most satisfying victory as a manager, because it’s at such an important stage of the season and no-one gave us a chance,’ said Sherwood.

‘This week I’ve had so many people tell me, “You can’t win at White Hart Lane, Villa never win there”.

‘I’ve been in the pressure of a title race as a player, but this is worse. When you’re a player you only think about yourself. As a manager you’ve got the expectations of the whole club – and this isn’t a little club, it’s massive.’

As for Tottenham, they can kiss the idea of Champions League football goodbye after this lacklustre defeat. This display suggests they do not deserve a top-four finish.

Federico Fazio, alongside Eric Dier in central defence, was handed the unenviable task of taming Christian Benteke after Jan Vertonghen missed out through illness. The Belgian striker’s run of seven goals in five games had given Villa’s survival hopes a shot in the arm.

By the final whistle Fazio was probably wishing Vertonghen had taken a shot of something to cure his illness as the brilliant Benteke fired Villa to victory.

Spurs carved out the first clear-cut chance in the 27th minute, Brad Guzan saving well after Harry Kane had played in Danny Rose down the left. That was as good as it good for Tottenham, though, as Benteke’s influence grew.

Gabriel Agbonlahor should have been allowed to go one on one with Michel Vorm as he sprung Tottenham’s offside trap, but he was wrongly flagged in the 31st minute.

The decision sparked the first animated complaint from Sherwood, who had been unusually subdued to that point. Four minutes later, Sherwood was back on his feet. Not in anger this time, but in delight. If Villa preserve their top-flight status they will owe it to Benteke. They will also have Spurs defender Vlad Chiriches – filling in at right back for the injured Kyle Walker – to thank. The Romanian, who has been a peripheral figure for Pochettino, was having an uncomfortable afternoon, and the home fans were letting him know it, too.

Chiriches’s carelessness led to Villa’s winner. After he sloppily conceded possession around 10 yards outside his area, the ball eventually fell to Bacuna, from whose cross Benteke out-jumped Fazio and directed his header past Vorm.

Villa deserved their lead; without being easy on the eye, there was an intensity to their game that Tottenham could not handle. And in first-half stoppage time they very nearly doubled their advantage.

Not for the first time, a long pass found Benteke, whose header released Agbonlahor, who cut inside Dier before watching his low drive from the edge of the area hit the post.

Any faint hopes Pochettino still harboured of a top-four finish were fading fast. Tottenham did step up the tempo in the second half; Rose and Kane both went close with speculative efforts. But if Benteke was Villa’s first-half hero, their central-defensive partnership of Ron Vlaar and Nathan Baker took the honours after the break as Sherwood’s men soaked up the pressure.

Pochettino made a double switch 11 minutes from time: Erik Lamela replaced Andros Townsend and DeAndre Yedlin came on for his Spurs debut in place of Chiriches, who departed to ironic applause.

But it was Villa side who missed two glorious chances to wrap up victory, Vlaar and Fabian Delph spurning gilt-edged opportunities in the closing stages.

To add to Sherwood’s anxiety, Villa had to play the final few minutes with 10 men after Carlos Sanchez picked up a second yellow card for a late challenge on Rose. The match descended into farce as both teams were involved in a melee just before the final whistle.

Soon afterwards, though, Sherwood and Villa erupted.