Tottenham earned a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

West Ham did Tottenham a favour on Saturday. By the time Spurs kicked off at Villa Park on Sunday evening, the Hammers had already been beaten 3-0 at Brentford, and the door to safety was wide open. Goals from Conor Gallagher in the 12th minute and Richarlison in the 26th put the game to bed before the half hour mark, and despite Emi Buendia’s stoppage-time header making it 2-1, Tottenham held on to claim their most important win of the season.

Aston Villa, who made seven changes following their Europa League semi-final first leg defeat to Nottingham Forest in midweek, were second best from the first whistle. Gallagher opened the scoring after a long throw-in caused chaos in the Villa penalty area, with Youri Tielemans unable to clear, and the ball falling perfectly for the midfielder to drill into the bottom-left corner. Richarlison then doubled the lead with a finish set up by Mathys Tel, and whatever hope Villa had of a comeback never truly materialised.

Spurs move to 17th with 37 points, one point and ten goals ahead of West Ham with three games remaining. Back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since the opening two games of the season tells its own story about what De Zerbi has managed to pull out of a squad ravaged by injuries.

The stat that highlights the Roberto De Zerbi impact at Tottenham

That number sits at the heart of everything De Zerbi is trying to build at Tottenham. Spurs are not just sitting back and hoping for results, they are pressing with conviction, winning the ball in dangerous areas, and making life uncomfortable for opponents.

At Villa Park, that intensity was on full display, and a side battling relegation managed to outpress a team chasing Champions League football. It is the kind of statistic that reframes a survival fight as something more interesting than that. Tottenham in fact, might just beat the drop.