Unai Emery may have taken a step too far, but this was a significant stride forward for the people of north London. Though the Australian may have been speaking with his tongue firmly in his cheek, there was some truth in what he said.
If Villa had won, there would have been an eight-point deficit and an even worse goal margin. As it is, Postecoglou and his guys are now leading the charge by a wide margin. And it was the least Spursy performance you could have imagined.
And devoid of the typical absurdly high drama elements that appear to be entrenched in the club’s character. They took their time and were methodical. In one penalty area, devastating when it counted, and merciless elsewhere.
They gained some breathing room after the restart as they scored two goals in three minutes. And with more than 25% of the game remaining, there would only be one winner after Villa captain John McGinn was sent off for booting Destiny Udogie into the air.
But by the halfway point, none of this was anticipated. It was almost like a non-contest for the first forty-five minutes. Neither team had the cleverness to break the other’s high offside line, therefore the game was stressful and cagey.
A few moments after the break, that was different. When the outstanding Dejan Kulusevski sent a ball down Villa’s left for Pape Matar Sarr to charge onto, Postecoglou’s squad broke the stranglehold.
Even though he continued to have a lot of work ahead of him, the midfielder managed to create a cross that James Maddison wouldn’t have been able to receive more precisely had he walked the ball over with his hands.
The accuracy and speed of it were such high caliber that Maddison would have needed to miss something. He didn’t. If any one goal captured the essence of Villa’s afternoon, it was the second one, which gave the north Londoners the breathing room they needed.
Seeking a companion, Ezri Konsa entered the field. He searched for Youri Tielemans, but Kulusevski took control instead. After swiftly passing the ball to Heung-Min Son, who drew a defender, Brennan Johnson scored his third goal in as many games.
Villa Park gasped. Emery’s players were also. It got to be too much for McGinn, who crashed into Udogie, another of Spurs’ best players, near the visiting team’s dugout.
Their bench’s response was expected. Chris Kavanagh, the referee, also received criticism for his red card. He didn’t even require a VAR rerun to be seen. The Spurs then carried out their best effort to end the game.
