How Spurs (Belatedly) Cruised to Victory at Aston Villa

There’s no such thing as a straight forward Premier League match these days, and Spurs’ trip to Aston Villa was no exception.

Despite the fact that Spurs performed at their level best for the entirety of the first half, the scoreline threatened to remain 0-0 going into the interval. While Aston Villa’s defense was – put generously – most in shambles, American goalkeeper Brad Guzen mixed skill and luck in equal measure to keep Spurs from going ahead.

Spurs registered six shots on Guzan’s goal in the first half, almost all of which were dealt with by Villa’s number 1. Almost. Harry Kane raced down a quickly taken Dele Alli free-kick in the dying seconds of the 44th minute and found a way past Guzan to make it 1-0.

Prior to that shot, Mauricio Pochettino was likely formulating what would need to be done in the second half to bust down the door Guzan had set up in front of his goal, while Villa coach Remy Garde was likely thinking of ways to help Guzan sustain among his best performances of the season. Kane’s opener changed threw whatever plans either manager had made.

If that goal forced a re-think from Pochettino, it was Kane’s second just after half-time that got him back on track.

Coming into the match, Pochettino ideally wanted this and every other match against the Premier League’s strugglers to go approximately the same way: take a first half lead, ease off the gas and ride out the win. It’s a strategy that has best been implemented in early February when Spurs traveled to Norwich. The intensity we’ve all come to expect from Spurs was on full display in the first half. Dele Alli scored in the first minute and Kane doubled the lead half an hour later with a penalty.

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It was match that, going into half-time, had all the hallmarks of a rout. Spurs could have come out 15 minutes later and continued to run riot, just as most other teams might have done in the situation. Instead, Pochettino preferred a more conservative approach. They let off the gas, sat back and relied on their talented defense to handle whatever Norwich might throw at them.

Norwich had a much easier time of getting into Spurs’ half without the constant high pressing to deal with, though ultimately still had to contend with Toby Alderweireld and company as well as . They managed more passes in Spurs’ territory than they did in the first half but still only were able to get one shot on goal.

And so Pochettino’s strategy worked. Kane scored a late goal to make it 3-0, and Spurs were able to walk away with another victory while expending considerably less energy to do so.

Spurs’ visit to Villa ended up working broadly the same way. Though Guzan made Villa a bit harder to breach than Norwich, Kane’s goals on either side of the interval were enough of a lead to allow Spurs to pull back and defend for the duration.

It’s telling that in both the Norwich match and this one that Spurs’ shots on goal drastically reduced in the second half. In most instances when an opponent is chasing a lead you would expect the winning team to get more chances as the defense their playing against pushes up in search of goals. Not so with Spurs. A comfortable lead is just that – comfortable. No taking risks, no running up the score. Just sit back and hold out.

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That strategy isn’t entirely unimpeachable. Villa did hit the post twice toward the end of the match, and had either of those been goals it would be left Spurs very little time to bolster their own goal tally. But overall it’s a plan that will help extend the seasons of several of Spurs’ best attacking players.