THAT’S THE ESPIRITO

Nuno delighted to put derby nightmare behind him as Spurs victory

NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO marched on to the pitch at the final whistle, hugged his players and then clapped the fans.

For a manager not big on emotion, he knew just what a big result this was even so early in his tenure at Tottenham.

It was hardly the most fluid or convincing of performances from his men and there are still plenty of issues to be resolved. But Spurs got the job done and the vast majority of the home crowd got behind them.

The little steps and improvements perhaps mean the storm clouds have blown over for a couple of weeks to give him some breathing space.

Tottenham are up to eighth, just behind the leading pack, and it does not feel half as bad as last week when they lost the North London derby.

Pierre-emile Hojbjerg was outstanding for Tottenham, scored and dominated midfield, with Oliver Skipp excellent alongside him. There were flashes of brilliance from Tanguy Ndombele.

Heung-min Son provided two assists, Tottenham’s winner was credited as a Matt Targett own goal even though Lucas Moura will claim it, and they deserved the win.

But Harry Kane has yet to score in the Premier League this campaign and Tottenham are still set up to counter-attack even at home under Nuno. It is not the free-flowing, daring football the fans demand.

That is the problem for Nuno and one which victories like these will not solve. But they can buy time for him to find his way, make himself feel at home and to try to lay some foundations.

It was easy to forget Aston Villa won at Manchester United last week, largely because they were so disappointing yesterday.

They never really found their rhythm and remain inconsistent. But Villa are usually a tough nut to crack and for Spurs to get themselves over the line, especially after a European fixture on Thursday night, is no mean feat.

Villa were the better team in

the early stages and it took an incredibly ambitious effort from Kane – a quickly-taken 50-yard free-kick which nearly caught Emiliano Martinez off his line – to get the home side going.

They took the lead after 27 minutes when Hojbjerg drove forward from midfield, and fed Son, who bided his time on the right edge of the box before finding the Dane again.

Hojbjerg was given time and space to pick his spot from 20 yards and it was 1-0.

Villa’s set-pieces and final balls were a real letdown but slowly they dragged themselves back into the contest, Skipp making a heroic clearance to foil Danny Ings and Cristian Romero blocking from Targett.

Spurs also passed up a raft of chances to score. Son missed, Kane pulled another opportunity wide and such wastefulness nearly came back to haunt them.

Villa got themselves level after 68 minutes when Jacob Ramsey spread the ball wide to Ings, Targett then sent over a low cross and in stormed Ollie Watkins to score.

But the groans from the home crowd and celebrations in the away end lasted just three minutes before Tottenham regained the lead.

Son’s cross caused chaos in the Villa box and Moura fired the ball into the net but the final touch had come off Targett for a cruel own goal.

An ugly winner but a precious one for Nuno.