Tottenham were all over Aston Villa in the second half of their 4-1 win at home
Tottenham Hotspur put on another second-half masterclass for the White Hart Lane faithful to witness on Sunday afternoon.
The north London outfit found themselves trailing at the break against Aston Villa but they were a different side altogether in the second half and netted four goals to secure the points. Goals from Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and James Maddison saw Ange Postecoglou’s men come out as comfortable 4-1 winners.
The game saw Tottenham bounce back from a disappointing 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League last time out and build on a morale-boosting 2-1 Carabao Cup fourth-round success over Manchester City.
Breaking down the win, former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov was happy with the team’s second-half display on Sunday. The Bulgarian asserted that the second-half display against Villa should be a blueprint the Lilywhites should follow from now on, hoping to witness performances of such ilk more often going forward this season.
“This is what normally Spurs are, unpredictable. Sometimes you expect one thing, something else happens,” Berbatov said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football (h/t Football London).
“But the good thing is they bounce back and they bounce in a great, great performance in the second half.”
When asked by host David Jones if the second-half display is how he wants to see his former side play, the 43-year-old added:
“Yes, because this is how it used to be, how it should be, entertaining the fans and scoring goals like this.”
It was a performance and result which the Spurs fans thoroughly enjoyed, especially the manner in which the goals went in after the break. Whatever Big Ange said in the dressing room at half time worked wonders as our players didn’t allow Villa to settle down and pressed aggressively and forced mistakes, as evidenced by Pau Torres’ giveaway for the third goal.
However, it was not all positive for the hosts with Richarlison and Cristian Romero being withdrawn through injury which will be a concern following Micky van de Ven’s recent issue and the setback in Wilson Odobert’s recovery from injury. The challenge for Postecoglou will be to manage his squad well for the upcoming games against Galatasaray and Ipswich Town and take necessary measures to avoid further injuries.
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Spurs’ approach in games is unlikely to change and as fans, we would want the team to play free-flowing, aggressive and attacking football but with a better defensive shape.
