The game started off slow and there was a lot of build up play that led to nothing. Soldado and Holtby were coming out of their position far too often, so when Townsend broke down the wing there was no one in the middle to collect, hold up or shoot the ball.
It was a blessing to see Vertonghen on the left as Kyle No.2 is suited to the LB role (in my opinion).
Lloris managed to get us into a fair bit of trouble with some poor kicking, but a very capable Dawson and Chiriches cleared up well for most of the game.
There were glimpses of what could be between Holtby and Soldado, with some great link up play. I believe that Soldado is settling and Holtby finding his feet (in the first team) and once complete the two would work very well together.
Until Soldado passed the ball out to Townsend leading up to the goal I found myself shouting at the players too much. Some players were coming too deep to get involved in the game (it may have been to try and inject something into the game), but it is important for all players to hold their shape.
Once Townsend had surprisingly found the back of the net we seemed to be a different team. We were pushing forward with purpose, carrying the ball well. It was Townsend that was inspiring the team and he was unlucky not to score another two before half time and set up Paulinho.
The first 15 minutes of the second half saw efforts from Soldado, Townsend and Paulinho all denied and Guzman pulling off some great saves to deny the players.
Benteke was soon subbed on to counter the pressure that was building up and almost has an immediate impact with a header going narrowly over. It was the first time that our defence had completely lapsed in concentration. Villa begun to build pressure and start to challenge us with, Benteke heading over from a corner, However their pressure did not last long.
Holtby and Soldado had started to link up well in the second half and it was on the 68th minute when Holtby worked well on the left, to pull back to Paulinho (on the edge of the box) who made a superb weighted pass into the path of Soldado, who neatly tuck the ball up and beyond the superb Guzman.
For the remainder of the game if was pretty much all Spurs again with Townsend working the right wing well and crossing for Paulinho, who was impeded and was unable to make contact with the ball in front of an open goal. It was difficult to see the contact and it was only after watching highlights that I had managed to see it.
The second goal completely knocked all of the excitement and confidence that Benteke had brought with him.
We took 56% of the possession for the game, our tackling and our passing was much more effective. Villa managed to get off 1 more shot than us throughout, but most of their shooting was from distance and without Benteke they seemed to struggle. It would be unfair to say that our side had put in a much better performance, but we made our chances count.
There is one match incident that has not had too much coverage and it was another horror tackle by Westwood. Holtby was lucky to escape without injury and although the tackle certainly did not seem to have any malice behind it, I think that Westwood is walking a thin line with a lot of late challenges.
Finally I have to talk about the gas incident. For those fans in the away section that were in front or behind the culprits I am sure you were as shocked as I was to suddenly see a cloud of blue smoke come out around the stand. If they had of thrown it onto the pitch fine (but it was stupid), but to seemingly throw it at the assistant? Come on guys, I know that they miss things, but we can't do that. The delay in the game could have been costly for us! What if the break was exactly what the Villa players needed to regroup after Townsends's goal?
At the end of the day we won, Townsend put in a another great display, Paulinho got an assist, Soldado got an assist plus his goal and we kept a clean sheet. It doesn't get much better than that.
I did question AVB's selection, but Holtby proved he is capable of challenging for his place in the starting 11 and Chiriches in the middle with Dawson really worked well. It shows what AVB is paid for!
COYS!!!!!!!
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