Image Credit: Yahoo News
By Lee Clow
16 February 2020 | Premier League
Son Heung-Min scored in stoppage time as he earned Tottenham a precious 3-2 victory over Aston Villa.
Villa started brightly and took the lead within nine minutes in very peculiar circumstances. A cross from the right deflected dangerously towards goal and huge mixup between Hugo Lloris and Toby Alderweireld forced the latter to tap the ball into his own net.
Despite looking rattled in the early exchanges, Spurs responded well and almost found themselves level five minutes later. Lucas Moura managed to find Dele Alli in the centre of the box allowing the England midfielder to fire towards goal, but he saw his effort blocked excellently by the covering defender.
Moments later Villa again exploited Tottenham’s shaky defence and almost found a second through Douglas Luiz. Jack Grielish easily skipped through down the left before finding Luiz in the centre of the box, but Ben Davies miraculously got back on his line to block the shot.
Having scored at one end of the field, Alderweireld scored at the other and brought Tottenham level in spectacular fashion. A Son Heung-Min corner found its way to Alderweireld who superbly swivelled and struck into the roof of the net, redeeming himself for his earlier own goal.
In the final 10 minutes, Dele had a huge chance to give Spurs the lead having been played through on goal. The Spurs attacking midfielder unleashed his shot with the outside of his boot towards goal, but the ball fell agonising wide in much relief of the home crowd.
Tottenham continued to put more pressure on Villa late in the first half as cracks began to show. A lovely give and go by Davies allowed the Welshman to pick out Dele in the box, once again, but the latter could not find the corner as he struck the incoming the defender. Following the block, the ball fell for Steven Bergwijn who struck on the volley but again the shot was blocked.
Immediately after, Spurs were back on the attack with Bergwijn leading the charge. As the Dutchman was about to unleash his strike, covering defender, Bjorn Engels appeared to bring down Bergwijn resulting in a VAR check for a possible penalty. The decision was made moments later and a penalty was given allowing Son the chance to score from the spot. Having scored from the spot against Southampton in the FA Cup in the last game, Son saw this penalty saved by Pepe Reina, but the South Korean was alert and quick enough to get to the rebound and tap home to turn the game around right before halftime.
In the second half Spurs started as they finished the first half with Son and Bergwijn looking very dangerous.
However out of nothing, the home side found themselves level through a corner. Like Alderweireld, Engels redeemed himself for Villa as he rose highest in the box and easily headed home unmarked. From this moment it became an end to end game with both sides creating chances, looking for a winner.
Tottenham biggest chance in the second half came from Son who found space in the box. The South Korean received the ball in the box before striking across his body towards goal but Reina excellently got down to parry the effort from the Spurs number 7.
Late in the second half, Spurs mounted huge pressure on the home side as they looked for a winner. Son saw two efforts excellently saved by Reina as Spurs crept closer and closer.
Substitute Giovanni Lo Celso had a chance in stoppage time as he received the ball at the edge of area. The Argentine showed great feet before unleashing a strike at goal, but Reina was there again to keep the scores level.
With the seconds ticking, Tottenham hit Villa with a sucker punch as Engels made a costly mistake. A hopeful ball from the back from Davidson Sanchez squeezed under the foot of the Belgium centre half allowing Son to skip through on goal. All the South Korean had to do was stay composed and he did that by placing the ball expertly past Reina to send away fans into raptures.
The final whilst blew and Spurs earned a vital three points as they continued their fight for the top four. For the Villa, the last minute goal could prove costly with the fight for survival looking slimmer as each game goes on.
Spurs boss, Jose Mourinho had a lot to say after the game, he said: "I thought we deserved to win but I think they did not deserve to lose. Villa played to win."
When asked about the penalty, Mourinho said: "Steven Bergwijn, I don't know if I call him naive, or too honest - the referees tell us 'pre-match don't ask for anything, don't surround me, don't do the motion of the screen'. The action was there and it was a question of to be or not to be and clearly it was."
Mourinho then went on to discuss Alderweireld's performance: "In a funny way I'd say he's scored three goals: the own goal, his goal and then when he loses the duel with Engels. but he scored with a shot of his life with a new baby this week."
Mourinho ended his press conference stating his thoughts on the chance of getting Champions League football next season following Manchester City’s ban: "Not just for us. A window opens for many teams. What seemed far, now the fifth place is not far. Arsenal, Everton, Sheffield United, Wolves... everyone will feel they have the chance."
Villa boss, Dean Smith, also spoke after the game: "We have to try and take the positives. The last two games we've scored late winners here, so now we know how it feels on the other foot. We had chances to win the game but we weren't clinical enough.”
"They have a front four that can hurt anyone, that's why we had to get forward and defend on the front foot. On the whole I thought we dealt with them really well but we're disappointed with the goals we conceded.”
"We probably gave away too many chances from counter attacks, which they're good at, but we didn't deserve to lose that.”
"It was a good performance against a team that are fifth in the league but we deserved more than that."
What’s next?
The Champions League returns in midweek with the first games of the knockout stages.
Tottenham will take on RB Leipzig on Wednesday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before facing Chelsea next Saturday in the Premier League.
Aston Villa’s next game is against Southampton next Saturday in the Premier League.
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