Aston Villa down heavily-rotated Spurs to move into Premier League's top five

Aston Villa moved up to fourth in the Premier League, at least for the time being, as second-half goals from Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara extended the Villans’ unbeaten home league record to 18 matches (W11, D7).

Armed with the incentive of moving a step closer to UEFA Champions League qualification for the second consecutive season, Villa started on the front foot against their 17th-placed visitors.

John McGinn fired wastefully over when well-placed in the box, while at the other end, Emiliano Martinez reacted brilliantly to deny a close-range flick from Wilson Odobert. 

Chances continued to flow as the first half progressed, with Morgan Rogers seeing a deft effort tipped around the post by Antonin Kinsky and Marco Asensio curling narrowly wide from the edge of the box.

Key numbers from the matchOpta by StatsPerform

The hosts remained in control of proceedings as half-time approached, but the Tottenham rearguard held firm under pressure to keep the scores level at the break.

Determined to make their pressure count, the Villans looked to up the ante at the start of the second period.

Their persistence was duly rewarded in the 59th minute when Ollie Wakins’ header from McGinn’s corner was tucked home by Konsa for the centre-back’s second league goal of the season.

Villa came close to doubling their lead shortly after, only for McGinn’s long-range effort to drift narrowly wide of Kinsky’s near post.

Not to be denied, Unai Emery’s side found the all-important second with 17 minutes left on the clock, as Kamara picked up a pass from Rogers and drilled a superb strike into the bottom corner for his maiden Premier League goal.

That all but ended the match as a contest, allowing Villa to ease through the closing stages and secure a ninth league win in 11 matches.

As for Tottenham, their attention shifts to next week’s Europa League final, with a first trophy in 17 years on the line.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa)

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