Aston Villa won 32 games this season and Tottenham lost 25. However, beating Manchester United in a single match could see both qualify for the Champions League. What a strange season it was.
When Villa went to Old Trafford on May 25, they will have a chance to reach the competition of European clubs for the second successive season. By then, the Spurs may have already done so, provided they can beat United in the final of the Europa League next week in Bilbao.
If they lose, Ange Postcoglou could be unemployed when the men of Unai Emery play their last campaign championship match.
Because even a first trophy since 2008 may not compensate for a miserable league campaign which has brought 21 defeats for the Spurs. Silverware can only put on so many cracks and the PostCoglou strategy for Bilbao has undergone a possible setback here while Pape Matar Sarr was removed at the start of the second half. At this point, the game was virgin, but the strikes of Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara were sufficient to sink the very weakened team of Postcoglou.
The president of the Spurs, Daniel Levy, was in the crowd and had to have made comparisons between his own manager and Unai Emery. The boss of the villa has done another great job this season and if his team is doing the top five, it would be a rich reward for his masterful work.
Emery said he expected Tottenham to choose a solid team and although the villa boss was surely bluffing, even he would have been surprised to see the programming of visitors.
Aston Villa stayed on the right track to qualify for the Champions League while they were beating Tottenham 2-0 Tuesday evening
Ezri Konsa (photo) and Boubacar Kamara were on the match sheet for the guests of Villa Park
The Angel Postcoglou team, on the other hand, lost its last match before the crucial final of the Europa League on Wednesday
10 important members of the team of the first team were appointed on the bench or excluded, while Sergio Reguilon received only his second start of the season. The other, in case you ask yourself the question, was in a third round equality in FA Cup in Tamworth in January.
Given the exhausted alignment of spurs and empty seats in the outside section, villa supporters anticipated an evening walk in the sun from the end of spring. It certainly did not start in this way, because the spurs were seated deeply in a 4-4-2 and tried to use Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert’s rhythm during the break.
Ollie Watkins drew straight on subgardian Antonin Kinsky in the sixth minute and John McGinn shot moments later. At the other end, Heung-Min’s son in shape, drew just from an angle and Emiliano Martinez did well to keep Odobert’s back heel after a quick counterattack.
Kinsky made an equally impressive backup when Amadou Onana’s cross for the left was intended for the most distant corner while Watkins stretched to convert it. Watkins then tried to find Marco Asensio when he should have pulled, Pau Torres the front spotted with a nice depth pass.
Watkins was again frustrated while ASENSIO danced the three challenges before released the striker of England, whose shot was blocked by Kevin Danso. Fans of the house now realized that it was not inevitable and there were groans of the northern stand when McGinn, Ian Maathsen and Morgan Rogers all refused to go to the objective of promising positions. Asensio tried its luck at 20 meters and its break in rupture just exceeded the post.
Frustration also increased in the field. A few moments after Konsa had directed McGinn’s free kick in Kinsky, Martinez and Kamara exchanged sharp words shortly after an attack by the broken spurs.
Irritating that the ball does not run for them, the patience of the villa was thin. Konsa reacted angrily when such seemed to target a elbow in his direction. Reguilon raised his shirt and showed a place on his chest after a fight with Onana.
Finding himself widely ignored, referee Peter Bankes whistled furiously. Shortly after, Postcoglou was left by crossing his fingers while Pape Matar Sarr was replaced by an apparent injury.
Pope Matar Sarr was replaced in the second half by what seemed to be another injury
A first trophy since 2008 may not compensate for a miserable league campaign which has brought 21 defeats for the Spurs
Unai Emery has done another great job this season and if her team is doing the top five, it would be a rich reward for his masterful work
Just before the hour, Villa has pierced. After Dateo produced another fine block to concede a corner, the delivery of McGinn chose Watkins to the distant post. Davies made the crucial error to follow the ball and leave Konsa not marked in the middle to direct the Knockdown of Watkins.
Now Villa was running well and Watkins has shot Kinsky’s net stop, with the top scorer in Villa slammed by Davies as he did. Emery’s men were desperate to put the game without any doubt, but neither Asensio nor Matty Cash could test Kinsky at a distance. To the delight of Emery, Kamara quickly showed her teammates how to do it with a fierce journey on the edge of the box that Kinsky could not keep away.
