Matchday: Tottenham 3 – 1 Aston Villa
By Ryan Wrenn
Halftime
The scoreline sits at 2-0 in Tottenham’s favor at the half and it seems like that pre-match prediction might bear itself out after all.
You can’t fault Villa too much here – they have put up about as good of a fight as they could to shut or slow down Tottenham’s roll. But that roll is simply too strong.
Two goals at either side of the half came from among the least likely candidates on the field: Mousa Dembélé and Dele Alli.
Dembélé’s opener in the third minute was a truly impressive bit of muscularity from the Belgian as he latched onto the ball on the left and more or less bossed Villa’s best defender, Ciaran Clark, on the way to scoring a goal through keeper Brad Guzan’s legs. A marvelous effort for a player not known for his goalscoring.
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There were moments after Dembélé’s goal, though, that it looked as if Tottenham would lapse into the same kind of malaise that lost them the game against Anderlecht a week and a half ago. Villa pressed hard and frequently throughout the half, frequently robbing Tottenham of the chance to build up play and even having some chances of their own come close.
Tottenham’s quality was too bright not to shine through however. Christian Eriksen expertly passed the ball wide left to Danny Rose in the 45th minute, who then pinged the ball into the box where it eventually ended up at the feet of Alli. With the calm and collectedness of a player ten years older, the young Englishman deftly shot clean through a crowded penalty area to double Tottenham’s advantage.
If there’s only thing that might have deflated this Villa side more than Alli’s goal, it’s the sheer exhaustion they must be experiencing from playing an unfamiliar pressing game in the first half. That is not a style they are accustomed to, much less physically fit enough for, so Kevin MacDonald is asking a lot of his own side by having them play in such a way. We can expect Villa to tire quickly in the second half if they keep it up.
Check back after the match for some final thoughts!
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