| 8.3°C Dublin

Mourinho’s bold decisions pay off at Villa to ease pressure on Spurs boss

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho congratulates Davinson Sanchez after their win at Villa Park Expand

Close

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho congratulates Davinson Sanchez after their win at Villa Park

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho congratulates Davinson Sanchez after their win at Villa Park

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho congratulates Davinson Sanchez after their win at Villa Park

John Percy

Astton Villa 0, Tottenham Hotspur 2

This time it really was ‘job done’ for Tottenham, and the scrutiny on Jose Mourinho will ease a little after a week in which his season had threatened to unravel at breakneck speed.

Mourinho’s bold team selection was vindicated as Tottenham secured their annual three points at Villa Park, a result they sorely needed to keep those top-four hopes flickering.

Villa Park has proved a welcoming venue for Tottenham in recent times and this was their seventh victory in a row here, with Carlos Vinicius scoring his first Premier League goal before Harry Kane’s 68th-minute penalty.

The wimpish defeat in last weekend’s North London derby and a Europa League evisceration at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb had placed Mourinho under serious pressure, and a defeat here would have created even more problems.

Negativity has gripped the club like wet rope and Hugo Lloris’s remarkable interview following the European exit, in which he appeared to suggest the dressing-room was fractured, only cranked up the tension ahead of this game.

Read More

This was a welcome shaft of light to pierce the darkness. Tottenham’s victory lifts them into sixth, three points behind Chelsea in fourth, and a place in next season’s Champions League remains in their sights.

Villa appear to be running out of steam at a crucial period in the season, with Jack Grealish again missing through injury, and Dean Smith has won only five of his 15 league games since St Stephen’s Day.

Mourinho clearly knew the heat was on after making drastic changes to the team that had embarrassed him over the last two matches.

Seven changes were made here, with Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga recalled and Gareth Bale dropped. Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine, both 16, were named among the substitutes with Mourinho claiming the move was “to prove to the other guys we look to the future”.

The only vindication for such a gamble would have been a positive result.

Tottenham were far from fluent but defensively they were resilient while there was more intensity and threat on the counter-attack.

Lucas Moura was a menace, while Davinson Sanchez also impressed at the heart of their defence as Tottenham registered their first clean sheet in five matches.

It was from a rapid break forward just before the half-hour mark that they took the lead, after capitalising on a rare mistake from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

A poor Martinez clearance was seized upon by Tottenham and Kane’s pass released Lucas into the penalty area, with his cross presenting Vinicius with the simplest of finishes.

Martinez has been excellent since his arrival from Arsenal but will have to wait a little longer to equal Brad Friedel’s Premier League record of 15 clean sheets in Villa’s goal.

Villa failed to have a single shot in the first-half, for the first time in nearly seven years at their own ground. It was not until the 58th minute that Villa produced their first effort, with substitute Anwar El Ghazi firing a shot into the side-netting.

The Halfway Line Newsletter

A weekly update from our soccer correspondent Daniel McDonnell along with the best writing from our expert team. Issued every Friday.

This field is required

Ross Barkley, the Chelsea loanee, was introduced by Smith midway through the second-half, with the visitors still relatively untroubled.

Seconds after he was brought on, Villa conceded a penalty after defender Matty Cash brought down Kane in the area.

Kane was never going to miss, sweeping home his sixth goal in four games against Villa.

For Mourinho this was a satisfactory end to a chastening seven days. Job done.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]

Privacy