Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham: Spurs vault out of relegation zone behind Gallagher, Richarlison goals

Tottenham Hotspur fans have waited a long time for a promising — dare I say GOOD — performance from their team. They got one today. Against a heavily rotated Aston Villa team clearly prioritizing the Europa League semi-final second leg, Roberto De Zerbi and Spurs took Villa to the woodshed in the late game on Sunday. Spurs got first half goals from Conor Gallagher — his first in lilywhite — and Richarlison, locked down on defense, and never let Villa anywhere near goal until the very end of the game. Emiliano Buendia scored a banger for the home team in the 95th minute, but it was the only bright spot for Villa as Spurs won away 1-2.

Villa clearly had their eye on the second leg of the Europa League, as Unai Emery made six changes to the team that started their last league match. Doesn’t matter — Spurs made Villa look positively pedestrian.

The win was massive — not only was it Spurs’ second straight win after going the whole of 2026 without a league victory, but with West Ham losing 3-0 earlier in the weekend Spurs jumped a point ahead of their relegation rivals, two points behind Nottingham Forest, and out of the relegation zone with three games to play. Tottenham didn’t allow Villa a single shot in the first half and despite the late goal, this match was practically on cruise control.

Spurs controlled possession, won the vast majority of their duels, actually passed the ball pretty well, and barely let Villa have a sniff of the ball near Antonin Kinsky’s area. It was about as comprehensive a win as we’ve seen all year against any opponent, and it put Spurs’ future firmly in their own hands in the relegation battle.

Here are my match reactions.