Ange Postecoglou praised his "excellent" Tottenham side following their 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa, a result which supports their pretensions to a top four finish.
The Australian branded the fourth vs fifth match-up at Villa Park “a significant game” but while the two sides traded blows throughout the first half neither could land the opening punch.
But five minutes after the restart, up stepped James Maddison: the midfielder stormed through the middle to tap in Pape Matar Sarr’s inviting cross. Cue the trademark dart celebration.
And Brennan Johnson doubled the advantage. Laid on by skipper Son Heung-min, the winger fired the ball beyond Emi Martinez and into the roof of the net, continuing his fine run of form.
Any suggestion of a riposte was binned when John McGinn was given his marching orders. The Scot momentarily lost his senses, scything down Destiny Udogie to spark a melee in front of the dugout.
Goals from Son and Timo Werner in time added on applied the finishing touches to a good afternoon’s work in the West Midlands.
It stands to reason that if Spurs can maintain this kind of form they will be playing Champions League football again next season.
On the performance
Spurs find themselves within striking distance of the top four, now just two points behind Villa with a game in hand. By contrast, a defeat would have created a cavernous eight-point deficit.
Postecoglou admitted he was pleased with how his side handled the occasion. Speaking in his post-match press conference, he explained: “Obviously we knew it was a significant game coming here, tough venue, good opponent. I thought in the context of all that, first half we did really well just to make them work hard more than anything else.
“They had to try and contain us, the threats they had we snuffed out. I got a sense towards the back end of the first half they were beginning to already tire a little bit.
“That was kind of the message at half-time, just persevere, stay calm, play our football, maintain our intensity, it was going to be important. And we did, we got off to a flyer and the quality of our football was excellent to see out the game.”
Curbing the influence of the in-form Ollie Watkins was evidently a key to Spurs’ success. The Spurs boss said: “Even today he was a threat, but I just think we handled it really, really well. [Vicario] only had a few moments where he needed to be involved and he did that really well.”
On van de Ven’s injury and the back four
There is no doubt that Spurs are a more convincing outfit with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven at the heart of defence. Both have missed significant spells of football, to their side’s detriment, this term and van de Ven was forced off on 49 minutes having taken a knock.
His replacement, Radu Dragusin, deputised expertly.
Of van de Ven’s injury, Postecoglou said: “I’m not really sure. He doesn’t feel it’s anything too significant. Disappointing for him as he was outstanding again up until that point.
“But [it was] great for Radu to come in. It’s his first significant gametime in a big game and I thought he handled it really well.”
He added: “Obviously Micky’s out today, but it’s good when you’ve got a settled back four. That makes a significant difference. In the middle of this year we were chopping and changing and it’s hard for us to maintain consistency.
“I thought our two full-backs were outstanding in the way they kind of swung across and our centre-backs all did a great job.”
On Maddison
Scoring will have relieved some of the slight pressure mounting on Maddison’s shoulders. The midfielder had not netted in any of his six appearances since returning from a two-month-long ankle injury.
Though Spurs fans will be familiar with his arrowed set-plays and cultured through-ball, this goal came from Maddison’s sheer bloody-mindedness. Sprinting through the middle, he stole a march on the retreating Ezri Konza and Matty Cash before steering in Sarr’s cross.
Of the goal, Postecoglou mused: “It was a really good goal for him because it was as much about his endeavour as about his quality, just getting into those areas.
“If we’re going to get more rewards for our good play and our hard work, we need more players having that kind of endeavour to get into those areas to score goals.
“Madders is one of those who plays a bit more advanced so he’s one that we know has quality to score from just about anywhere but he attacked an area where we need him and others to attack. It was a great ball by Pape.”
He also poured scorn on suggestions that Maddison’s form might have been a cause for concern.
“He missed a hell of a lot of football and he’s only just getting their rhythm going again - we’ve got a few like that,” Postecoglou added.
