Aston Villa vs Tottenham

Minute-by-minute report: Will Spurs boost their chances of a top-four finish with a win against Aston Villa? Join Barry Glendenning to find out.

It takes a deflection that wrong-foots Martinez in the Villa goal but he and Mings manage to scramble the ball clear between them. 45+1 min: Ben Davies contests a bouncing ball with Ollie Watkins in the Spurs penalty area, preventing the Villa striker from controlling it and getting off a shot. 37 min: Villa pile on the pressure and win another corner. 45+5 min: Kulusevski needlessly barges into Jacob Ramsey, giving Villa a free-kick in the channel between touchline and the left side of the penalty area. It was a robust but fair challenge from Davies, who got himself between Watkins and the ball. Kane took a glance to see where Son was going, nodded the ball into his path and without having to break stride, the South Korean was able to take control, advance and slot past Martinez. Seven games to go and we are showing that we are deserving to stay in the race for a place in the Champions League.” The early concession of a goal in the second half completely knocked the stuffing out of them and Spurs have run out easy winners. 77 min: Extensive research (a replay) tells me it was Christian Romero who floated the ball out of defence to send Tottenham on their way for their third goal. We are pleased - not an easy game but we showed resilience in the first half when Villa tried to push a lot and put a lot of pressure on us. That’s a nasty, cynical challenge which gets the booking it deserves and Kane needs treatment on his ankle. The Villa substitute stumbles but stays on hias fdeet, continues his run and wins a corner.

LIVE: Follow all the action right here from Villa Park as Antonio Conte's Tottenham side take on Aston Villa in the Premier League.

Dier clips the ball forward, it's half-headed out, Kane's shot is blocked and it falls to Son who volleys it low with his left foot and in off the left-hand post. Matt Doherty has got a problem with his right knee after an early challenge on him and he's signalling to the bench. Spurs weathered the storm and now they're raining the goals down on Villa. Once again Spurs score early in the half! 2-0 to the visitors. Another lovely spinning flick-on header from Kane from Romero's diagonal ball and Son runs through and clinically buries his shot inside the left-hand post.

Tottenham's formidable front three of Son, Kane and Kulusevski tore Villa apart to open up a three-point gap in fourth place.

Lloris added: “It was a tough battle as we expected. Fortunately for Antonio Conte and Spurs, Kane was able to finish the match, but the premeditated challenge from Young warranted a more significant punishment. Spurs mustered a rare chance of their own but Mings and Emi Martinez combined to prevent Reguilon’s deflected effort from squirming into the bottom corner. Ollie Watkins drew another stop from Lloris before Ings missed a gilt-edged chance after Tyrone Mings’ flick-on had found him completely unmarked at the back post. That finish moved Son level with Fernando Torres, Eden Hazard and Louis Saha on 85 Premier League goals. Perhaps buoyed by results elsewhere, Tottenham made a fast start and took the lead inside the opening three minutes.

Get a report of the Aston Villa vs. Tottenham Hotspur 2021-22 English Premier League football match.

Important for us because of his experience, today we needed him and he answered very well," Conte told BBC after the game. They are playing their game and we're playing ours so we don't want to focus on other teams because it's different. "I'm so happy to get three points, it was a hard afternoon," Son told BBC in his postmatch interview.

Match report and free highlights as Spurs extended their advantage on Arsenal to three points with a four-goal win over Aston Villa at Villa Park; ...

"The second goal was a real blow to us. And that's the reason why the scoreline is as it was." At the same time, I know we have to work on this improvement. But the best was to come. "It was a great win for us. But today they showed me they have improved this aspect." There is a lot of space for improvement. It is important in this moment not to fail. "In this moment you start to feel the blood. It was the difference. Harry Kane's shot was going wide but bounced kindly off Matty Cash and Son lashed the ball low into the corner with his left foot. For Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa, the mood is rather different.

Tottenham made it seven wins in their last nine Premier League games following a brilliant 4-0 triumph over Aston Villa in the Midlands.

The game certainly wasn't easy for Tottenham, but they did make it easy as they wowed in the second half to deliver a hammer blow to Villa. The Frenchman's saves from Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn were top class, with the captain also doing well just before the break as Philippe Coutinho looked to catch him out at his near post with a free-kick. Their latest victory came on Saturday evening away at Aston Villa as they left the MIdlands with all three points following a 4-0 drubbing.