Dominic Solanke scored twice as Tottenham roared back from a goal down to thrash top-four rivals Aston Villa 4-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Solanke had not scored since late September but struck twice in the space of four second-half minutes before substitute James Maddison added a brilliant fourth from a stoppage-time free-kick to end Villa’s 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Solanke’s first goal was a deft finish over Emiliano Martinez after being played through by Dejan Kulusevski and he followed it up with a close-range strike from Richarlison’s cross.
Earlier, in the first half, Morgan Rogers had put Villa ahead following poor Spurs defending at a corner, but Brennan Johnson levelled from a teasing Heung-Min Son centre soon after half-time.
Dominic Solanke scores to give Spurs a 2-1 lead against Aston Villa
The hosts appeared to lose their momentum after their equaliser, and also suffered a blow when Cristian Romero limped off with an injury to join centre-back partner Micky van de Ven on the sidelines.
But the floodgates opened with Solanke’s first goal, ensuring Spurs followed up their Carabao Cup win over Manchester City with another victory, having been beaten 1-0 away to Crystal Palace in their last Premier League game.
Aston Villa deserved their lead at half-time, with Amadou Onana also striking the post from a header, but Unai Emery’s side were blown away in the second period, the defeat, only their second of the season, ensuring they missed the chance to go third.
Watch: All the goals
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Morgan Rogers’ tap-in puts Aston Villa ahead at Tottenham
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Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson converts Heung-Min Son’s cross for the leveller
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Dominic Solanke dinks the ball over Martinez to put Spurs ahead of Aston Villa.
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Dominic Solanke strikes again to extend Spurs’ lead against Aston Villa.
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James Maddison nets Tottenham’s fourth with a superb free-kick
Ange hails ‘massive effort’ of Spurs players
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou in his press conference:
“You know with Villa that they are always going to have a real strong performance because they are very, very consistent. They rarely have off days and you’ve got to be ready for that.
“I thought we had to match with them in the first half. We had to sort of draw on their energy and make them work really hard. Obviously we conceded a goal but I still felt like we made them work really hard in that first half.
“The thing with us is we’ve got another two or three gears in us and we keep going. We felt like we could really break them open in the second half if we just really stayed focused on making sure the football was up-tempo and there was intensity in the game.
“Credit to the players after a massive effort on Wednesday night [the 2-1 win over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup] that physically they did it again.”
Postecoglou also said Romero’s withdrawal was down to soreness in his foot, while Richarlison, who also had to be taken off, felt something in his hamstring.
Analysis: Hard-working Solanke gets his rewards
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Sky Sports Nick Wright and Danyal Khan deliver the Verdict following Tottenham’s 4-1 victory over Aston Villa.
After 473 minutes without a goal, a barren run dating back to the end of September, Solanke only needed four minutes to turn one into two. His quick-fire double was crucial to the victory.
His first was beautifully-taken as he latched onto Kulusevski’s pass to lift a delicate finish over Martinez. For his second, he was in the right place at the right time following a turnover to meet Richarlison’s low cross with a powerful strike from close range.
The goals delighted Postecoglou, but the Spurs boss has consistently talked up the importance of his all-round contribution to the side and that was his message again in his press conference.
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Tottenham’s Heung-min Son and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers reacted angrily to being substituted during the game
“Just unbelievable,” he said of Solanke’s work-rate, this display coming only a few days after a similarly industrious performance in the Carabao Cup win over Manchester City in midweek.
His effort was evident throughout as he hounded and harried Villa defenders and it was reflected in Premier League tracking data which showed he made 36 high-intensity sprints – the second-highest total by any player in a Premier League game all season.
“I’m sure he loves the fact that he can score a couple of goals,” added Postecoglou. “But even if he didn’t, I can’t speak highly enough of what he’s contributing to our team. Long may it continue because with him playing that way, he just makes us a better team.”
Emery ‘not too worried’ despite defeat
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery in his press conference:
“We have been consistent until today, but we will need more. It’s not enough, but we are still being in the top-seven positions and this is the first objective we can try to keep.
“Yes, of course, in the first half we didn’t concede a lot of chances, we didn’t concede a lot of opportunities.
“But in the second half, they took a step forward, clearly, and they scored with their first action. After that it was more difficult, but even like that, we were competing and we created chances.
“But we made some mistakes in transitions and they were alert to try to use them and they did it.
“I am not really worried about the result because it could happen, with how the match was going. They scored two goals and after they were in their best position to play how they like, in transitions.”
