Rampant Tottenham kept their European hopes very much alive with a five-star
super show against clueless Aston Villa at White Hart Lane.
Spurs raced into a three goal lead in the opening half with Mali striker Fredi
Kanoute hitting a double either side of skipper Ledley King's 18th minute
effort.
Villa grabbed a lifeline when Gareth Barry converted a spot-kick in the
closing stages of the first half but Andy Reid unleashed a stunning 25-yard shot
in the 66th minute for the fourth and Stephen Kelly put Spurs seventh in the
Barclays Premiership with a fifth in the last minute.
Tottenham had almost stunned their visitors inside the first two minutes when
King forced Stefan Postma into a fine save.
The Spurs skipper met Reid's inswinging corner from the right and planted a
firm header goalwards which Postma did well to palm away.
Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson had also been forced into an early save as
Steve Davis burst through to unleash a right-foot drive that the England man did
well to save low to his right.
Villa were furious they were not awarded a penalty in the fifth minute when
Erik Edman appeared to foul Mark Delaney inside the box, but within seconds
Spurs capitalised on their good fortune by taking the lead.
Robinson quickly collected the ball and punted it high towards Kanoute. The
Mali international got the better of Liam Ridgewell and fired home via the
inside of the right-hand post to the fury of the Villa players.
Villa goalkeeper Postma was so incensed that referee Mark Clattenburg had
failed to award Villa a spot-kick that he chased the official to the centre
circle. He was duly booked for his protest.
Spurs, needing a victory to keep their slim UEFA Cup hopes alive, were without
England striker Jermain Defoe. He had been left on the bench by coach Martin Jol
in favour of Kanoute and Robbie Keane in attack.
Tottenham were two up in the 18th minute through skipper King. Reid's 20-yard
shot through a crowded penalty area rebounded off Villa's left-hand post and
when Sean Davis failed to take advantage of the loose ball, King tapped home
from six yards.
Sean Davis forced Postma into another fine save at his near post when the
former Fulham midfielder got on the end of a Kanoute cross.
But it did not matter because Spurs increased their lead in the 26th minute
when Villa failed to clear the subsequent corner.
Keane's attempted turn and shot fell to kindly to Kanoute and the Mali man
struck his second of the game by firing high into the top corner from the angle
of the six-yard box.
In the 43rd minute Villa got back into the game when Michael Dawson was
adjudged to have handled a shot by Juan Pablo Angel.
Barry gave Robinson no chance by firing the spot-kick powerfully down the
middle and into the roof of the net.
However, in the 50th minute, Villa almost reduced the deficit still further
when Darius Vassell burst into the penalty area and forced Robinson into a
one-handed save with a powerful shot.
On the hour, Robinson and Vassell were hurt when they collided inside the
penalty area and both players required treatment before they could continue.
Robinson was clearly struggling and Spurs took no chances by substituting the
England goalkeeper with understudy Radek Cerny.
The Spurs number one looked to have hurt his right knee in the collision with
Vassell and was warmly applauded as he limped around the perimeter of the
pitch.
In the 66th minute, Reid put the game beyond Villa's reach with a tremendous
25-yard strike.
The Spurs winger broke clear and as the Villa defence backed off, Reid left
fly with a superb left-foot drive that cannoned into the net off the underside
of the crossbar.
In the 75th minute Spurs coach Jol opted to introduce Defoe and Egyptian
forward Mido into the action as replacements for Kanoute and Keane.
The changes almost brought Spurs a fifth in the 83rd minute when Defoe's
18-yard effort was deflected on to the top of the crossbar.
The striker was then thwarted by Postma three minutes from time as Spurs cut
through the Villa defence with ease.
Kelly added a fifth for Spurs in the final minute.
Teams
Tottenham Robinson (Cerny 64), Kelly, Dawson, King, Edman,
Davies, Davis, Carrick, Reid, Kanoute (Mido 78),
Keane (Defoe 78).
Subs Not Used: Bunjevcevic, Ziegler.
Booked: Davis.
Goals: Kanoute 6, King 19, Kanoute 27, Reid 67, Kelly 90.
Aston Villa Postma, Delaney, Ridgewell, Laursen, Samuel,
Solano, Davis, Hitzlsperger (Hendrie 59), Barry,
Angel (Moore 59), Vassell.
Subs Not Used: Sorensen, De la Cruz, Cole.
Booked: Postma, Solano.
Goals: Barry 45 pen.
Att: 36,078
Ref: M Clattenburg (Co Durham).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook