Tottenham Players React to Win Over Aston Villa
Tottenham deserved a 2-0 win but had to be patient against a stern Aston Villa defense in the FA Cup’s third round.
Mauricio Pochettino made nine changes to his starting XI yesterday but it was the inclusion of two substitutes that made the difference in a nine-minute span.
Tottenham who had won five straight games came into Sunday’s FA Cup tie with plenty of momentum and confidence to advance into the fourth round. But a transformed Aston Villa side managed by Steve Bruce proved to be a battle of wits.
Spurs’ lineup may have fielded backup players who rarely get onto the pitch but they should have been enough to get past the Lions. For an hour, that wasn’t exactly the case.
Both teams struggled to find any cohesion to string together attacks in the final third and trouble the opposing goalkeepers. More so for Aston Villa who had nine attempts but only one on target.
Related Story: Match Report: Tottenham 2-0 Aston Villa
Tottenham had respectable numbers offensively, ending the match with 13 shots and seven on target. But Sam Johnstone would make five saves keeping the game at a stalemate until the addition of Dele Alli (60th minute) and Georges-Kévin N’Koudou (70th minute).
N’Koudou who was only making his 11th appearance on the year — all coming off of the bench — is starting to exhibit flashes of a super sub.
Most notably, N’Koudou’s 23-minute appearance late in the second half against CSKA Moscow is what gave Spurs one of two wins in the Champions League.
Just like his work back in September, the young French winger used his pace and skills to attack Villa’s defense head-on after they were tired from defending for nearly a majority of the game.
It’s no surprise then that Harry Winks attributes yesterday’s win to the depth at Spurs’ disposal. To have players come in late, make an impact and turn the game around.
“Dele [Alli] was key when he came on,” Winks began explaining (via Tottenham’s official website). “He helped us get in the pockets, get forward and gave us a bit more athleticism going forward.”
GK [Georges-Kévin], when he came on, did excellently by getting an unbelievable cross in and Josh [Onomah] came on and contributed in a positive way as well.”
Son Heung-Min who scored the decisive second goal to fully ensure a Spurs win, echoed Harry Winks’ sentiments that the depth Tottenham showed in their 2-0 victory proved valuable.
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“We have young and hungry players and in every training session and every week on the bench they learn.” Son said.
“When they play they do really well – the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Harry Winks and Josh Onomah. We’ve got a good squad and everyone is ready to perform.”
“Of course, everyone has to be ready. We all work really hard in training, everyone is really hungry and we all want to do well.”
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To face Aston Villa in the third round, Tottenham got a good draw to begin their FA Cup run. Although trying to make short work of them proved challenging.
As mentioned up top, Steve Bruce has transformed the Lions around and it starts with their defense being more disciplined and improved. It’s a stronger unit that doesn’t concede many goals.
The reason why Spurs’ offense struggled to breakdown Aston Villa for long stretches of the match is due to their defending. Son Heung-Min and Kevin Wimmer noticed that they were setup to defend with as many as 10 players in their own box.
“The first half wasn’t easy because they were standing very deep and we had to find the space […].” Son said.
“[…] It was a very difficult game because Villa were defending with 10 men in front of their own box, they stayed very deep in their own half and it was very difficult to create chances.” Kevin Wimmer chimed in.
“We had a lot of possession over the 90 minutes, in the second half we did a little bit better, we played a bit quicker, then we created more chances and I think we deserved to win. It’s nice that we are through to the next round.”
Harry Winks rounded out each player’s views on the game continuing with the theme that Tottenham had to be patient against a Villa side looking to defend rather than attack.
Next: Tottenham Player Ratings: Aston Villa at Home
“I thought we were in control for the whole game. It was a difficult one because they were compact, deep and they made it difficult for us to get through them but we kept playing our way by keeping the ball, playing out from the back and building up patiently and luckily it worked for us.”
“We were still creating opportunities, getting in good areas, we had good control and it was more a case of being a little bit more clinical in the first half.”
“Thankfully we scored twice in the second half and it’s obviously good to get a clean sheet and get the win.”