Aston Villa recorded an necessary victory over Tottenham Hotspur within the penultimate spherical of the 2024/25 Premier League marketing campaign on Friday at Villa Park.
The sport was goalless on the break, however then Ezri Konsa (57′) and Boubacar Kamara (73′) struck for the house facet, setting, because it turned out, the ultimate rating at 2-0.
Groups
Marcus Rashford and Youri Tielemans had been unavailable for Villa boss Unai Emery to pick by harm, in addition to Jacob Ramsey who served a red-card suspension.
With Emiliano Martinez between the posts, Konsa paired up with Pau Torres within the coronary heart of defence, with Matty Money on the appropriate and Ian Maatsen on the left. In the course of the park, Kamara was joined by Amadou Onana, and captain John McGinn, along with Morgan Rogers and Marco Asensio, supported striker Ollie Watkins.
As for Spurs, the upcoming Europa League ultimate pressured coach Ange Postecoglou to use a good degree of rotation to his group. On high of that, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall, Dane Scarlett, Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin, had been injured.
Antonin Kinsky changed Guglielmo Vicario in objective. Ben Davies and Kevin Danso acquired the nod because the centre-back pairing, offering a little bit of relaxation for Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. Djed Spence lined the appropriate defensive flank, Sergio Reguilon the left. Archie Grey and Pape Matar Sarr paired up in midfield, Mikey Moore and Wilson Odobert attacked from the flanks, whereas captain Son Heung-min performed closest to striker Mathys Tel.
The way it occurred
The competition was reasonably balanced within the first half. Villa did have a number of probabilities, most notably by and an tried cross which Kinsky needed to tip over the bar, however Spurs had their moments as nicely, as Son proved as harmful as ever on the counterattack and Odobert pressured Emi Martinez right into a tough save.
The house facet entered the second half with warning, however when Konsa lastly broke the impasse, they appeared to have lastly damaged although restraints and the victory by no means really regarded unsure. Kamara’s nice shot later solely utilized the of entirety, although there have been nonetheless round 20 minutes to go.
With the Europa League ultimate clearly weighing closely on their minds, the guests appeared to lack correct motivation to get again into the competition, and Villa had been in a position to deliver the match to an finish with none drama.
Reactions
Talking to the press after the sport, Postecoglou confirmed his group choice was additionally based mostly on the upcoming European ultimate. He was adamant that there was nothing unsuitable with the likes of Vicario, Van de Ven, Romero, Pedro Porro and Future Udogie, and strengthened his want to have every of his most well-liked again 4 accessible for the season-defining recreation in opposition to Manchester United on Wednesday.
“They’re accessible,” he mentioned. “For us, there isn’t a level bringing them in. They weren’t going to play at present. They stayed residence. They’d a very good, sturdy session.
“Come Wednesday, they’re all accessible, that’s a very powerful factor. That was the first factor. When these guys play, the again 4, with Vic in objective, our probabilities enhance.”
Requested additional on the topic, he merely added:
“Yeah, I don’t understand how else to say it. They’re accessible. If one thing occurred to them at present, I feel they might not be accessible. I simply don’t assume that might be the good course for us to take.”
In the meantime, Emery expressed satisfaction with the efficiency of his group, in addition to the results of their ultimate recreation in entrance of residence supporters this time period. He additionally mentioned a number of good phrases in regards to the guests and pressured that the top-five race is much from over.
“I’m very comfortable and at present we closed out our season right here with our supporters making an attempt to transmit our power,” the Spanish coach mentioned.
“We gained, however there’s nonetheless work to do to have an opportunity to play Champions League and we now have to attempt to preserve the inconsistencies down and focus.
“Spurs competed nicely and did a improbable job. We had been talking at half-time in regards to the difficulties we had been going through and to be constant and demanding in our recreation plan.”
Champions League race
There actually isn’t a lot to say about Spurs’ place within the Premier League desk, besides that they’re now straight above the already relegated trio of Ipwich City, Leicester Metropolis and Southampton, with simply 38 factors from 37 video games.
However for Villa, there’s every little thing to play for on the final matchday subsequent week. In the meanwhile, they’re fifth with 66 factors, the identical as Newcastle in third and Chelsea in fourth, although the Magpies have a recreation in hand. Manchester Metropolis, in sixth place, even have a recreation in hand and potential victories in opposition to Bournemouth and Fulham would seal a spot within the Champions League for Pep Guardiola’s facet.
At this level, it’s wanting very possible that it’s going to come all the way down to a battle between Villa and Chelsea, who face Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, respectively, away from residence, within the ultimate spherical. The goal-difference closely favours the London Blues, however after the Europa League ultimate, United would possibly show simpler to cope with than Europe-chasing Forest.
