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1
Brad GUZAN
14
Antonio LUNA
4 Ron VLAAR (c)
2
Nathan BAKER
7 Leandro BACUNA
15
Ashley WESTWOOD
8
Karim El HAMADI (18
Mohammed SYLLA 72)
16
Fabian DELPH
27
Libor KOZAK (20
Christian BENTEKE 61)
10
Andreas WEIMANN
11
Gabriel AGBONLAHOR
(24
Alecksander TONEV 79)
Unused subs:
13
Jed STEER
34 Matthew
LOWTON
21 Leigh
BOWERY
9
Niklas HELENIUS
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25
Hugo LLORIS
2
Kyle WALKER
20
Michael DAWSON (c)
6
Vlad CHIRICHES
5
Jan VERTONGHEN
30
SANDRO
8
PAULINHO
17
Andros TOWNSEND
14
Lewis HOLTBY (19
Mousa DEMBELE 73)
22
Gylfi SIGURDSSON (
7
Aaron LENNON
77
)
9
Roberto SOLDADO
(18
Jermain DEFOE 87)
Unused subs:
24
Brad
FRIEDEL
16
Kyle NAUGHTON
21
Christian ERIKSEN
11
Erik LAMELA |
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Match report
AVB made a few changes from the West Ham game, with Sandro replacing
Dembele, Lewis Holtby coming in for Christian Eriksen and Chiriches
coming into the middle of defence pushing Jan Vertonghen out to left
back. It looked as though the Spurs Head Coach was setting up for a
battle.
As the teams came out, the rain started to pelt down and the pitch
had already been watered before kick off, so would be slick and
mistakes could be the difference between the two teams on a greasy
surface. With Villa having beaten Manchester City last time
out at Villa Park, it was surprising to see the swathes of light
blue seats between the fans who had turned up. In contrast, the
Spurs section was full and in good voice.
The first chance of the match fell to Villa after about three
minute, when Dawson couldn't cut out a cross from the right by Luna
and it fell to Agbonlahor, who fired his shot over the bar with
Dawson throwing himself in front of the Villa striker.
Tottenham's first threat came in the seventh minute, when Vertonghen
broke on the left and his low cross was put out for a corner by
Bacuna. When it came in, only a flick from a Villa head stopped the
unmarked Sandro heading at goal.
A bad foul on Holtby's ankle by Westwood brought a yellow card and
ignorant booing for Holtby when he touched the ball afterwards. I am
sure the Villa supporters who were there would have been baying for
a card if the foul had been on one of their players. But Spurs
were starting slowly, with deliberate passing and Paulinho playing a
more advanced role, having Sandro sitting in front of the back four
behind him. The latter Brazilian got forward to have a shot at goal
when Soldado took the ball down for Sigurdsson to lay it into his
path, but Guzan was right behind it.
Hugo Lloris had been having a tough time clearing the ball, with his
kicks slicing out of play, but he knew his bearings when Westwood's
20th minute free-kick came in from the left and missed everyone, but
the French keeper was down to it to push it wide of the crowded
goal-mouth.
Tottenham's moves were being let down by loose passing and a lack of
availability to receive an out ball meant that the play kept coming
back at them. The pace was not what Spurs would have wanted, but
once more, it looked as if AVB was going for security. It didn't
look that way in the 27th minute when Vertonghen was shut down and
the ball dropped for Weimann outside the box, whose shot went wide
to the right of Lloris' goal.
Play got very scrappy, with Townsend lacking room to get past Bacuna
and Spurs passing finding their own players, but hitting them when
they were intended for someone else. It all looked a bit too much
like the West Ham match all over again. Until a half an hour clicked
over on the clock and Spurs worked the ball out right through Holtby
and Soldado. It went wider to Townsend and as Soldado and Holtby
went for it at the near post, it's flight deceived Guzan and went
inside the far post to put Tottenham 1-0 up.
As smoke from a flare that came from the Spurs end and hit the
linesman cleared, a bit of pinball outside the box fell to Weimann,
who once more fired over from 20 yards out. Ten minutes before half
time, Vertonghen's cross was headed at goal by Gylfi Sigurdsson, but
he put his unchallenged effort wide.
Delph shot another effort over the bar before being fouled 20 yards
from goal, which brought a yellow card for Paulinho … much to the
delight of the Villa fans. At least they had something to cheer
about, as Spurs fans did when Bacuna's shot followed Delph's into
the fans behind the goal.
When Spurs did get put under pressure, Weimann broke away on the
right and put an early ball across for Kozak, but Dawson slid across
to intercept, but when he went to clear, the Czech forward caught
his foot and the ball went out for a corner. The Spurs skipper won
it and when it came back in, he was shoved to the floor by Delph,
missing the cross that came out to Weimann, who fired a foot wide
into the side netting.
When Tottenham started to move, especially Paulinho, it opened up
the Villa ranks behind the ball. But as the half came to a close,
the pace dropped considerably, until Luna got a corner on the Spurs
right. Westwood took it, but it was cleared to Delph, who fell to
earth once more. This time, Westwood's free kick was acrobatically
cleared by Sigurdsson.
Just before the half time whistle, Townsend played the ball into
Paulinho on the edge of the box and his back heel was blocked, but
as the Brazilian looked to shoot with his left foot, Andros took it
off his toe and shot with his left foot that brought a low save to
Guzan's right which saw the American just get enough of a fingertip
to take the ball out for a corner.
As the players trooped off at half-time in full sunshine, Spurs had
the advantage, but had not played great, even though they topped the
possession stats.
The play at the start of the second period was scrappy and the first
real effort came three minutes in when Townsend cut in from the
right and rifled a left foot shot that ended up well wide. A minute
or so later, a straightforward throw was flicked behind him by
Soldado to Paulinho, who struck a shot that Guzan had to push wide
again.
Dawson got a yellow card in the 52nd minute for a foul on Weimann,
that gave Westwood the opportunity to fire in a free-kick, which was
cleared to El Hamadi, but his effort was a distance too high over
the goal. It appears to the Villa fans that their players deserve a
free-kick every time they go to ground. They are a strange bunch
indeed.
Spurs won the ball when Walker took it off Luna and Townsend's ball
across the face of goal was for nobody in a white shirt there to put
the ball into the net. Vlaar then had to clear another cross from
Andros, with the resulting in Holtby firing the ball way over the
top.
Benteke came on for Kozak and the home crowd got excited by
something other than a player hitting turf. Vertonghen got caught by
a late tackle from El Hamadi on his ankle and that saw him leave
space out wide for Bacuna, whose cross in the 64th minute was headed
a couple of feet over by Benteke. It was the cue for a succession of
high balls to be played into the box for the Belgian striker to
attack.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was withdrawn in the 66th minute and Aaron Lennon
made his comeback on the left. His first action saw him concede a
free-kick for being pushed over by Vlaar !! While the Villa side
went aerial Spurs went to ground to go 2-0 up in the 69th minute.
Roberto Soldado won the ball on the left corner of the box, it went
wide to Holtby, who fed Paulinho, The Brazilian midfielder produced
a perfect pass into the Spaniard's path for him to lift it past
Guzan from ten yards out. It was a well crafted goal. It was a
master goal-scorer's finish giving him his first goal in open play
and a typical goal from inside the area for Roberto.
A corner won when Spurs pulled Villa around in the home team's last
third saw Paulinho have a header at goal but it went straight at the
keeper. Then Townsend had a chance when Baker gave the ball straight
to Soldado 30 yards out, but he went for goal rather than trying to
pick out a team-mate. The England winger did better 15 minutes from
time, when he cut inside Luna and hit a shot like he did against
Poland, but this time it was a foot too high.
Weimann tried his luck at the other end, but volleyed across the box
instead of at goal and another shot three minutes later ended up in
the Holte end. Tottenham should have been three up when Townsend's
cross was missed a yard out by Paulinho, who ran into the six yard
box, with Bacuna putting a presence in his back. Andros was
tormenting Luna, who failed to stem his runs in the second half,
almost setting up Soldado for a second after a long run, when he
took the ball off Weimann in his own half.
Substitute Tonev put a ball across goal with six minutes left, but
it was in vain, as there were no Villa players in the box and then
had a 20 yard shot soon after, but it was low and without the power
to test Hugo Lloris in front of a large number of light blue empty
seats.
Spurs took goal-scorer Soldado off for the last four minutes, with
Jermain Defoe replacing him. Meanwhile, the Villa sub Benteke was
showing signs of ring-rustiness, his touch not being up to his usual
standard and on the ball, he was easier to dispossess.
With 90 minutes up, Villa almost got a shot on goal when Tonev
pulled the ball back to Weimann, who had his shot blocked and then
Spurs broke, when Luna back-heeled the ball straight at Townsend,
but his cross only had Defoe to aim at and he was beaten in the air.
A flurry of late bookings were testament to Dowd's handling of the
game, with players building up injustices, but Spurs held onto the
ball to see out time and Tottenham returned to the top five in the
table.
It was a comfortable win in the end, with Villa lacking any creative
spark in midfield as their players were workmanlike, but not able to
open Spurs up. Tottenham looked happy to stroke the ball around,
even when Villa came with a bit of a charge into the second half and
then when Christian Benteke was introduced, but they rode those
waves of pressure and constantly broke on Villa's back four and
should really have had more goals to show for their work.
At the back, Vertonghen settled well and apart from a couple of
minutes when he was running off a kick on the ankle, he looked sound
there, willing to attack and in the middle Chiriches read play well
and the only criticism of him was that he tried to play too much
football in areas where it might not have been best to. But
Paulinho's movement was key to giving Villa problems and Townsend's
pace capitalised on the tiring legs of the home players. Holtby did
well and Dawson too at the back, with everyone doing a job for the
team to ensure not just another win, but another clean sheet.It's a shame that the
headlines may choose to concentrate on the flare thrown from the
Spurs section. It's not only why people take these things to
football, but how you get them through the turnstiles, with stewards
supposedly checking you for items prohibited from the stadium.
Hull come to the Lane next, so expect lots of yellow and black
shirts behind the ball and the hope of a breakaway goal, btu perhaps
after today, the team have learned a lesson in making possession
count.
Naunton Wayne
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