At a glance:
- Unai Emery praises Tottenham’s performance
- Roberto De Zerbi’s side out of the relegation zone
- Tottenham face Leeds United next
Tottenham produced their best performance of the Premier League season as they secured a 2-1 win against Aston Villa.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side are now out of the relegation zone, although they are just a point above 18th-placed West Ham United.
First-half goals from Conor Gallagher and Richarlison did the trick for Tottenham as Emi Buendia’s late header turned out to be nothing more than a consolation.
And speaking after the game, Unai Emery was seriously impressed with three things his away side did to brush Aston Villa aside.
Tottenham’s pressing and overall energy were superb
The North London outfit knew they could climb out of the relegation zone with a win and did exactly that.
Despite being a tricky away venue, Tottenham raced off the blocks and pressed from the front, winning duels all across the pitch.
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And Emery feels his team were second best in terms of pressing and winning duels as he lavished praise on Tottenham for a deserved victory.
“Today we faced a team that played fantastically and they competed fantastically. They needed the points and they fought to get them,” said Emery after the game via BBC MOTD.
“In the first half, we didn’t perform well; in the second half, we reacted, but it was not enough. In 35 games, things are very good and we have the advantage of still being in the top five, but we must continue to be demanding.
“Maybe the points [for Champions League qualification] are not enough, and we must try to recover our form and do the things we were doing – there are still three matches to go.
“They [Tottenham] played fantastic, they pressed, they won duels and we were not dominant in individual duels and they beat us.”
Feather in De Zerbi’s cap
De Zerbi has taken charge of four Premier League games at Tottenham and delivered two wins, a draw and a defeat apiece.
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It was obvious that he didn’t have enough time to work with his squad when they lost 1-0 to Sunderland, as they secured three points with relative ease.
However, Tottenham began to show signs of life against Brighton and would have won that game, barring Kevin Danso’s error.
Against Wolves, it was another step in the right direction as they secured a Premier League away win.
It all came together beautifully against Aston Villa as they simply dominated a team that is playing in a European semi-final.
De Zerbi’s work is already bearing fruit, and it’ll be interesting to see how Tottenham carry on from here as they aim to beat the drop.
