2GS The Sunday Times April 10, 2022 5Son takes the acclaim
after benefiting from
a rebound to score
the first of his three
goals after only three
minutes at Villa ParkYou never quite know with
Tottenham Hotspur, but this felt like a
defining day in the battle for the final
Champions League spot. Antonio
Conte’s side ruthlessly capitalised on
Arsenal’s defeat by Brighton & Hove
Albion to consolidate fourth place in
the Premier League with a display
that was gritty and brilliant, capped
by a Son Heung-min hat-trick.
Perhaps Conte has given
Tottenham the steel they have lacked
in recent years, for they had to
withstand a furious first-half assault
from Aston Villa, who then tamely
succumbed to their fourth league
defeat in a row after running out of
steam in the second half.
Son put Spurs ahead in the third
minute and Hugo Lloris pulled off a
series of fine saves before Tottenham
pulled away after the interval thanks
to one goal from the excellent Dejan
Kulusevski and then two from Son to
seal his hat-trick. Harry Kane pulled
the strings from deep with two assists
for Spurs, who have now scored 14
goals in their past four league wins.
“We have to show in this moment
that we start to feel the blood of the
opponent,” Conte said. “A top team
need to be strong mentally.
“During the game you can have a
period where you have to suffer
because your opponent is pushing
you a lot. The first half was difficult
but we knew this because I don’t
think there is one team that comes
here and wins easily.”
Tottenham took an early lead
when Eric Dier’s hopeful ball forward
was poorly cleared by Ezri Konsa,
who mistimed his jump. His header
landed at the feet of Kane, whose shot
was heading well wide until it struck
Matty Cash and rebounded into theSon rewards Spurs for their ‘suffering’
path of Son. His low left-footed shot
from the edge of the penalty area hit a
post and went in.
Villa’s response was furious and
sustained, both in a series of full-
blooded challenges and the number
of chances that tested Lloris. Cash
went through Matt Doherty right on
the touchline, forcing the Ireland
player to eventually leave the field
with what looked like a twisted knee.
Tyrone Mings then left plenty on
Kulusevski while winning the ball.
In between those two flashpoints,
Villa showed plenty of creativity, as
chances fell to Cash then Jacob
Ramsey, but Lloris beat away the first
effort and produced a brilliant one-
handed save at his near post for the
second. He also repelled a John
McGinn piledriver.
Philippe Coutinho was pulling the
strings and when he managed to find
some space for himself by the dead-
ball line, his exquisitely floated cross
deserved more than Ollie Watkins
heading over the crossbar. At the
other end, Sergio Reguilón, on for
Doherty, was denied by Emiliano
Martínez.
All that good work by Villa was
quickly undone when they started
the second half just like the first and
were punished for switching off. This
time Lloris punted the ball forward
and Konsa made a weak challenge on
Kane, but the flicked header from the
Spurs forward was exquisite
nonetheless.Suddenly Villa were in trouble as
Kulusevski latched on to the ball and
his low shot flew through the legs of
Mings and into the corner of the net.
“Are you watching, Arsenal?” was one
of the more printable chants from
Tottenham’s travelling faithful.
Villa were caught out again by
another long ball down the middle,
this time from Cristian Romero.
Konsa was once more the culprit and
Kane the puppeteer as his flicked
header sent Son through and he duly
blasted in his second goal. Five
minutes later the South Korea
forward completed his hat-trick,
Kulusevski this time the provider as
he pulled the ball back for Son to
tuck away.
“In terms of the result I want to
apologise,” Steven Gerrard, the Villa
head coach, said. “But the supporters
in the stadium will have seen a game
of two halves. We could have scored
three or four goals in the first half.
They made it all about our defence in
the second half. They are world-class
players and destroyed us.”Star man Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur).
Aston Villa (4-3-1-2) E Martínez 6 — M Cash 6,
E Konsa 4, T Mings 5, L Digne 5 (A Young 80min) —
J McGinn 6, Douglas Luiz 5, J Ramsey 5 —
P Coutinho 6 (E Buendía 70, 6) — D Ings 5 (L Bailey
70, 6), O Watkins 5. Booked Ings, Young.
Tottenham Hotspur (3-4-3) H Lloris 8 —
C Romero 8, E Dier 7, B Davies 7 — E Royal 7,
P Hojbjerg 7, R Bentancur 7, M Doherty 6
(S Reguilón 21, 7) — D Kulusevski 8 (S Bergwijn
84), H Kane 8, Son Heung-min 9 (L Moura 78).
Booked Royal, Hojbjerg, Kane.
Referee G Scott.Paul Rowan
Villa ParkASTON VILLA
0
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Son Heung-min 3, 66, 71, 4
Kulusevski 50,wandering had created a vacancy,
and Mwepu was waiting. He took the
ball down and slid a low cross towards
the penalty spot, where Leandro
Trossard arrived with perfect timing
to lash high into the net.
Dunk made a superb lunging block
to thwart Smith Rowe, then, just
before half-time, came a pivotal
moment. A corner was flicked on by
Gabriel Martinelli at the front post,
nodded back into the middle by
Gabriel Magalhães, and then headed
into the net by Martinelli, with Robert
Sánchez having bizarrely stranded
himself by leaping into the side net-
ting. There was a delay of nearly four
minutes as the VAR tried to ascertain
whether Martinelli was offside, then
whether Gabriel or Joël Veltman had
got the final touch at the back post as
they contested the header, and then
one final time exactly where Marti-
nelli’s front foot was. It was the worst
of VAR: far too long; too opaque for
the match-going fans; and too inflexi-
ble to give the benefit of the doubt to
the on-field decision.
After the interval, Arsenal switched
to a back three. Saka, now playing at
right wing back, kept running at
Brighton, drawing one dangerous free
kick on the edge of the area — spanked
into the wall by Cedric — and one yel-
low card for simulation. But despite
Arsenal’s pressure, they were soon
staring at a two-goal deficit, courtesy
of one of the team goals of the season.
Brighton beautifully worked their
way into the Arsenal box, with Alexis
Mac Allister’s backheel effecting a gor-
geous one-two with Caicedo. He dug
out a cross to the edge of the box,
where Mwepu met it on the half-volley
with a thunderous side-foot finish into
the bottom corner.
Arsenal created two chances for
the substitute Nicolas Pépé, but Brigh-
ton snuffed out both.
Odegaard then curled a perfect
25-yard free kick which looked
destined for the goal, only for Sánchez
to make a superb clawing save.
Eddie Nketiah, another substitute,
fired the rebound against the bar from
eight yards. From the next passage of
play, Odegaard’s 30-yard effort flicked
off Danny Welbeck and into the top
corner. But it was a case of too little,
too late for Arsenal.DAVID KLEIN/REUTERS
RACE FOR
FOURTH
PLACE- ARSENAL
P30
PTS^54
Apr 16Southampton (a)
Apr 20Chelsea (a)
Apr 23Man Utd (h)
May 1West Ham (a)
May 8Leeds Utd (h)
May 12Tottenham (a)
May 16Newcastle (a)
May 22Everton (h) - TOTTENHAM
P31
PTS^57
Apr 16Brighton (h)
Apr 23Brentford (a)
Apr 30Leicester (h)
May 7Liverpool (a)
May 12Arsenal (h)
May 15Burnley (h)
May 22Norwich (a) - MANCHESTER UTD
P31
PTS 51
Apr 16Norwich City (h)
Apr 19Liverpool (a)
Apr 23Arsenal (a)
May 2Brentford (h)
May 7Brighton (a)
May 15
tbcChelsea (h)
May 22Crystal P (a) - WOLVES
P32
PTS 49
Apr 24Burnley (a)
Apr 30Brighton (h)
May 7Chelsea (a)
May 15Norwich City (h)
May 22Liverpool (a)
TBAMan City (h) - WEST HAM UTD
P31
PTS^51
TodayBrentford (a)
Apr 17Burnley (h)
Apr 24Chelsea (a)
May 1Arsenal (h)
May 7Norwich (a)
May 15Man City (h)
May 22Brighton (a)