The shining Son
HEUNG-MIN SON stole the show as Tottenham took control of the race for fourth place by thrashing Aston Villa. They spent the majority of the first half on the back foot but Antonio Conte’s men claimed an important win as Son struck three times and Dejan Kulusevski also netted.
It was a victory that looked unlikely asvilla dominated the opening 45 minutes despite conceding an early goal. But Tottenham responded brilliantly in the second half.
The visitors looked all set for a straightforward afternoon when their first attack ended in a goal, Son finding the inside of the post with a left-footed shot from the edge of the box.
But that was Spurs’ last positive moment of a half that the hosts controlled. Only a phenomenal one-handed Hugo Lloris save prevented Jacob Ramsey from netting an almost immediate equaliser.
A back-stick volley from Matty Cash and then a cheeky Philippe Coutinho free-kick could not beat Lloris either as he ended the opening period as the clear man of the match.
The visitors went more route one after the break as Lloris lumped the ball up to Harry Kane.
His flick-on went straight into the path of Kulusevski, who stood Tyrone Mings up and scored.
Another ball forward to
Kane did the trick for the third goal.this time the England striker’s flick was perfect for the onrushing Son, who showed customary cool.
Kane was also at the heart of the fourth by feeding Kulusevski, who turned Mings inside out before picking out the late-arriving Son for perhaps the easiest of his three finishes.
This fourth straight league defeat was made all the worse forvilla boss Steven Gerrard when Lucas Digne was forced off late on nursing what looked like a shoulder injury.