Aston Villa vs. Tottenham: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham cut the gap to Premier League leaders Leicester City down to two points with a comfortable 2-0 victory away at bottom club Aston Villa on Sunday.
Kane scored either side of half-time, with Dele Alli providing the assist on both occasions, to secure his side's first win in the month of March.
Villa held firm for the vast majority of the first half, only to then concede in the 45th minute.
Any hopes of a comeback after the interval disappeared when Kane prodded home his 19th Premier League goal of the campaign just three minutes into the second half.
Bleacher Report has picked out the winners and losers from a game that had a bearing on both ends of the table.
Winner: Harry Kane
1 of 5
Harry Kane showed just why his club manager, Mauricio Pochettino, opted to keep his star striker fresh for Premier League duty.
Having played just 15 minutes as a substitute in Tottenham’s 3-0 UEFA Europa League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Germany on Thursday, the England striker was fresh to face Aston Villa.
For much of the opening half, Brad Guzan frustrated him (more on him to come), only for Kane to eventually break the deadlock with a left-footed drive from a tight angle.
The striker didn't wait long to add his second after the break, doubling Tottenham's lead when he poked home Dele Alli's pass from close range.
Kane now has 19 Premier League goals for the campaign, drawing him level with Leicester City's Jamie Vardy at the top of the scoring charts.
However, what really matters is Tottenham picking up three points. Kane said after the game, per the Premier League's official Twitter feed: "The early goal eased the nerves a bit. I’m delighted to get another two, but winning is the most important."
Loser: Brad Guzan
2 of 5
Playing in goal for Aston Villa this season hasn't been a whole lot of fun.
The Premier League's basement boys have now conceded 57 goals, although that number would have been even higher had it not been for Brad Guzan's performance against Tottenham.
The American goalkeeper waged a personal battle with Harry Kane during the first half, although his best save of the many he made was his reactionary effort to tip Erik Lamela's strike onto the post.
Eventually, however, Kane beat Guzan. Kane found a way to score, and despite a battling display in the opening half, Villa still found themselves behind at the break.
Guzan conceded again in the opening minutes of the second half—he has now let in nine goals since manager Remi Garde recalled him to the starting XI at the start of March.
Winner: Dele Alli
3 of 5
Dele Alli's two assists against Aston Villa take his tally for the season to 10. According to OptaJoe on Twitter, that is the most by any Tottenham player in all competitions.
His second was a straightforward pass, as some neat play on the counter left him with time and space to pick out Harry Kane in the middle of the area.
However, his helping hand for the opener was much more impressive.
Fouled just inside Villa's half, the teenager quickly picked himself up to take the free-kick. Spotting Kane in space through the left channel, he floated over a perfect ball to set up his team-mate.
While Tottenham will hope the duo can continue to fire for the rest of the campaign, England fans will also hope they can do similar things during Euro 2016 in the summer.
Surely, national team manager Roy Hodgson has to find places in his starting XI for both, right? Gary Lineker certainly thinks so, based on by his Twitter feed.
Loser: Remi Garde
4 of 5
These are dark, dark days for Aston Villa, a club once crowned champions of Europe.
Remi Garde has seen his side win just two Premier League games in 2016.
They huffed and puffed in the first half in attempting to get ahead, yet they lacked any real cohesion in attack.
Garde could at least reflect on an improvement in effort, per James Gheerbrant of BBC Sport: "The result is not positive but for sure the attitude and commitment for the 90 minutes was better than in previous weeks."
The 2-0 reverse makes it five straight league defeats—a run that has seen them manage a grand total of two goals. There is an air of resignation around Villa Park.
They are now 10 points from safety with eight games to go. It's a situation that even an escapologist as great as Houdini would struggle to get out of.
Realistically, the summer cannot come soon enough for Villa.
It will be interesting to see who still remains by the time they kick off next season, almost certainly outside of England's top tier.
Winner: Mauricio Pochettino
5 of 5
Mauricio Pochettino has been a revelation at Tottenham since arriving at White Hart Lane in May 2014.
However, his decision to make a host of changes for the first leg of the Europa League tie against Borussia Dortmund saw him get questioned by some supporters, according to Will Giles of the Metro.
Even Bleacher Report's Dortmund expert Lars Pollman was surprised by the Spurs XI, tweeting: "Understand (and wrote about) Pochettino prioritizing the BPL, but they play Villa at the weekend. Villa!"
Yet the former Southampton manager insisted the disappointing result wasn't down to team selection, per his interview with BT Sport (h/t Chris Myson of Goal.com): "We had a very bad day. It is difficult to explain, but it was a bad day and I'm disappointed with our performance."
Yet Pochettino can rightly feel vindicated in his decisions after seeing Tottenham record a routine victory to move within touching distance of Leicester City.
The Foxes can restore their five-point cushion at the summit when they face Newcastle United on Monday night, but at least Tottenham kept up the pressure on the surprise leaders.
