Son strikes at the death as Spurs deny Villa
Premier League
Aston Villa 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur
Son Heung-Min struck in injury time for Tottenham as Jose Mourinho’s side secured a 3-2 away win against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The hosts took the lead on nine minutes when Toby Alderweireld turned Anwar El-Ghazi’s deflected cross into his own net under pressure from Mbwana Samatta.
Villa nearly added a second 10 minutes later, but Douglas Luiz was denied from close range by a crucial Ben Davies block.
Spurs were under heavy pressure from Dean Smith’s men, but found an equaliser against the run of play when Alderweireld redeemed himself with a powerful strike on the turn from a tight angle.
The goal, which came shortly before the half-hour mark, was the Belgium defender’s first in the Premier League since May 2017.
Son then put the visitors ahead in added time of the first half by scoring a rebound from his own saved penalty after Bjorn Engels brought down Steven Bergwijn in the Villa box.
Engels seemed to have found his own redemption early in the second half by nodding home a Jack Grealish corner, but the home team were denied a point as Son struck again in the dying moments of the game after the Villa defender failed to clear a pass down field.
“It was a performance with mistakes,” Mourinho said. “A performance with a bad start, a bad collective start, but a performance with fantastic mentality, great personality, great desire to win and fantastic football.
“I think it is the match since I arrive when we created the most chances. We had so many chances to score. Not just the chances that arrive occasionally, but the chances we really build and work for and beautiful football.”
Spurs managed 23 shots, 10 of which were on target.
“So I am obviously very, very pleased with the victory, but I would now be complaining if the result was 2-2 after we missed so many chances, especially in the second half. Too much football just to score a goal in minute 94.”
The result means Spurs move to fifth in the table, one point behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who take on Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
