Tottenham landed a crucial blow in the fight to finish in the Premier League’s top four with a 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s side arrived at Villa Park knowing defeat to their fourth-placed rivals would have been potentially fatal to their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
But the north Londoners rose to the challenge with a second-half goal spree in the rain-soaked west midlands.
James Maddison put Tottenham ahead and Brennan Johnson doubled their lead before Villa captain John McGinn was sent off for chopping down Destiny Udogie.
Son Heung-min and Timo Werner struck in stoppage time to leave fifth-placed Tottenham just two points behind Villa with a game in hand.
“We made it tough for Villa. They worked hard just to contain us. We got our rewards in the second half,” Postecoglou said.
“Everyone was billing this as a do-or-die for us. I assume we’re not dead yet. It means we’re one game closer, just 11 games to go.”
Restoring Tottenham to Europe’s elite club competition in his first season in charge would be a significant achievement for Postecoglou and the target is now firmly in his control.
The Australian this week said reaching the Champions League would not be “a Willy Wonka golden ticket” for his club.
Villa are hoping to reach the Champions League for the first time since 1983, but this was a major setback to their unexpected bid for a top-four finish.
“We weren’t clinical because they were defending very well and we didn’t control the game,” Villa boss Unai Emery said.
“We have to control our emotions. The first two goals were crazy. We have to move on.”
Emery’s team claimed an early penalty when Ollie Watkins was sent flying by Micky van de Ven’s crunching challenge, but VAR rejected their appeals.
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