Tottenham rout jaded Aston Villa to close in on Champions League places
Premier League: Aston Villa 0 Tottenham 4
IT may not, as Ange Postecoglou is at pains to point out, be a Willy Wonka golden ticket, but Tottenham took a significant step towards a top four Premier League finish with a ruthless dismantling of one of their main rivals for Champions League qualification.
Second-half goals from James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Son Heung-min and Timo Werner sealed a notable win to pull fifth-place Spurs within two points of Aston Villa, with a game in hand.
The hosts looked jaded after their midweek Europa League exploits in Amsterdam against Ajax, and were well beaten as they were forced to see out the final third of the game at a numerical disadvantage after skipper John McGinn earned a straight red card for one of the worst challenges you will see this season.
After a frenetic first-half failed to produce a goal, the visitors took control with two in the space of three minutes at the outset of the second period shortly after Tottenham's Dutch defender Micky van Ven had limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.
The 50th-minute opener arrived at the culmination of a swift counter-thrust that released Pape Sarr to lope purposefully down the Spurs right and send over a sumptuous cross which was met at the near post by Maddison who poked home his first Premier League goal since October left-footed from close range.
Seemingly within the blink of an eye the lead doubled thanks to some woeful Villa play as Ezri Konsa surrendered possession deep inside his own half. Son gratefully accepted the gift, putting Johnson through on goal for the young forward to confidently beat Emi Martinez with a confident finish into the roof of the net.
If Villa thought things couldn't get any worse,
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