Dominic Solanke at double as Spurs produce brilliant second half to thrash Villa
By George Sessions, PA
Dominic Solanke struck a second-half brace to outshine England team-mate Ollie Watkins and fire Tottenham to an emphatic 4-1 home victory over Aston Villa.
Villa started the day with a five-point cushion over Spurs, having also beaten the north London club to a top-four spot last season, and went ahead in the 32nd minute when Morgan Rogers poked in from a corner.
It halted the momentum Ange Postecoglou’s side had built in midweek with a fine Carabao Cup triumph over Manchester City, but they were transformed in the second half and blew away their midlands rivals.
Captain Son Heung-min set up Brennan Johnson for his seventh goal of the season in the 49th minute before Solanke hit a quick-fire double during the final quarter of an hour after a six-match run without a goal.
James Maddison, a late replacement for substitute Richarlison, capped off a great day for Spurs with a stoppage-time free-kick as the hosts moved up to seventh, only two points off Arsenal.
The two teams had contrasting fortunes in the Carabao Cup as Spurs beat City with a near-full-strength XI, while a heavily-rotated Villa side lost to Crystal Palace, but it did mean the visitors were fresher for this latest battle.
Tottenham tried to build a head of steam midway through a dull first half as Rodrigo Bentancur had a dipping effort clip the roof of the net following a succession of corners.
Spurs were up against the set-piece kings, though, and Villa nearly scored from their first when Amadou Onana headed against the foot of the post from a Lucas Digne cross after Guglielmo Vicario had punched away the initial corner.
The warning was not heeded as Unai Emery watched his team strike first just after the half-hour mark.
Another excellent delivery by Digne was flicked on by Tottenham defender Pedro Porro and hit team-mate Bentancur, which forced Vicario into a point-blank save, but Rogers reacted first to fire home the opener.
It could have been 2-0 with 42 minutes played when Watkins was slipped in by Rogers, but the England international dragged his shot wide.
Solanke, the other England forward on the pitch, had an effort blocked soon before the interval but only managed nine touches in the first half.
Postecoglou resisted the temptation to make changes at the break, and it paid off as Spurs equalised in the 49th minute.
Captain Son ran at Matty Cash and worked a yard of space before he produced a wonderful cross for Johnson to tap in at the back post.
Another opportunity was fashioned when Son passed into Destiny Udogie, who found Solanke, but his low attempt was well saved by Emi Martinez.
Son was left disappointed moments later when Postecoglou replaced his skipper – only just back from a hamstring injury – with Richarlison, before other players started dropping like flies.
Tottenham vice-captain Cristian Romero limped off with a foot injury to be replaced by Ben Davies, then Villa boss Emery made a quick decision to withdraw Rogers after he got caught on the ankle by Pape Sarr.
Rogers was furious, though, as visiting super-sub Jhon Duran was sent on, but it was Spurs who moved through the gears and seized the initiative.
With quarter of an hour left, Davies made a crucial tackle on Watkins, which allowed Sarr to recycle into Johnson, who found Dejan Kulusevski and, after Solanke was played in, the £65million forward coolly chipped the onrushing Martinez.
A VAR check confirmed Solanke was onside, and it was 3-1 four minutes later when Sarr intercepted Pau Torres’ pass, slipped in Richarlison, and he cut back for Solanke to sweep home.
Richarlison, who has also missed a large chunk of the season through injury, had to limp off following the goal, but Maddison provided the icing on the cake.
The 82nd-minute substitute curled a free-kick around the wall and into the top corner from 20 yards in the 96th minute to make it nine wins in 11 matches in all competitions for Tottenham.