Tottenham rout Aston Villa as John McGinn sees red
Tottenham inflicted a chastening 4-0 home defeat on 10-man Aston Villa as Ange Postecoglou’s men emphatically won this key battle in the race for Champions League qualification.
Sunday’s crunch clash between fourth and fifth was described in the build-up by Villa skipper John McGinn as “the most important game in the club’s recent history”.
Unai Emery’s men had the chance to move eight points clear of Spurs in the final guaranteed Champions League spot, but instead the hosts’ captain saw red in an embarrassing second-half collapse.
Aston Villa’s John McGinn reacts after being shown a red card by referee Chris Kavanagh, right
Tottenham moved within two points of Villa with a win that started with James Maddison turning home a brilliant Pape Matar Sarr cross in the 50th minute.
Brennan Johnson scored a fantastic second three minutes later and McGinn’s rash, frustrated challenge on Destiny Udogie led to a straight red card that ended Villa hopes of a comeback.
Son Heung-min and substitute Timo Werner struck in stoppage time as Spurs secured a statement win in the Midlands, ending Villa’s run of three straight Premier League wins in this fixture.
The players emerged to smoke and pyrotechnics at Villa Park but there were no first-half fireworks to write about.
Ollie Watkins threatened to punish Spurs’ high line early on, with Micky van de Ven’s recovery pace bailing out Cristian Romero after the in-form striker burst past beyond him.
Ollie Watkins, right, endured a frustrating afternoon
Another example of that approach saw Watkins slipped through before the offside flag saved the Villa striker’s blushes after his undercooked pass to Leon Bailey was cut out by Pedro Porro.
Guglielmo Vicario punched away a testing McGinn free-kick and
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