Tottenham earned their sixth consecutive win in all competitions with their 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino chose a much-rotated but still dangerous Tottenham squad for this encounter with the Villans. The only regular starters came in the form of Toby Alderweireld and Eric Dier.
It’s hard to say whether it was the rotation or Villa’s own determination that kept the first half so sterile. Though Spurs managed a whopping 72% possession against the visitors, they were unable to even come all that close to finding the back of the net.
Steve Bruce’s strong Villa side must be given some large amount of credit though. They remained compact and solid, sacrificing possession for keeping Tottenham out of the penalty area.
That, sometimes, is enough for FA Cup matches like this. Forcing a replay at home would have been a fine result for Villa. A win would be better of course, but the smaller team must take what they can get in these encounters.
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From Spurs’ perspective, much of the difficulty lie farther up the pitch. The defense and midfield recycled possession well, but when the ball got to any of Heung-min Son, Moussa Sissoko or Vincent Janssen possession seemed to last only a touch or two longer.
That these players had little, if any, playing time together thus far this season serves as a fine explanation. That none of that trio have been in particularly great form lately also didn’t help.
The match continued on this frustrating course in the opening rounds of the second half. Indeed, Villa came close to scoring thanks to Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was only denied by a last ditch block from Alderweireld.
Just as Villa looked to be getting closer to at least earning a draw, Spurs found a way through.
Substitute Georges-Kévin Nkoudou found himself in possession on Tottenham’s left flank. After a pivot, he launched the ball blind into the box. Ben Davies — who had been playing at wing-back — was right in the center and sent a wonderful header into Villa’s net.
Nerves calmed, Spurs belatedly grew into the game. Villa were forced into going for an equalizer, and within short order both Sissoko and Son found chances on goal, with the latter converting to double the host’s lead.
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That was enough to see out the match. This win allows Tottenham to move onto the fifth round in February, with their competition announced later on Sunday.
More importantly, it sustain’s Tottenham’s remarkable winning streak. Keeping confidence up will be important to Pochettino, who knows that next week’s opponents West Brom will prove tricky.