For Aston Villa it was a cruel case of what might have been, with the post-match inquest inevitably focusing on that flashpoint midway through the second half when Christian Benteke raised a hand to the face of Ryan Mason and invited a red card. There was no real malice or physical force behind Benteke’s actions but the striker was playing with fire and the consequences for Villa were dire.
Neil Swarbrick had little option but to send the Villa striker off – only the referee knows why Mason escaped similar punishment for putting his head into Benteke’s face in the lead-up to that incident – and the complexion of the game completely changed. Tottenham Hotspur, who were trailing to Andreas Weimann’s first-half goal and looked desperately poor for long periods, accepted the lifeline and struck twice in the final six minutes, first through Nacer Chadli and then courtesy of their man of the moment.
Harry Kane, who has yet to start a Premier League game this season despite scoring eight times in cup football, came off the substitutes’ bench to hit the winner and further endear himself to the travelling supporters who had been singing his name as early as the first half. Erik Lamela must have fancied his chances when Spurs were awarded a free-kick 25 yards from goal in the 90th minute but Kane took charge of the situation and his right-footed shot deflected off Nathan Baker to leave Brad Guzan stranded.
There was no way back for Villa who have now lost six consecutive league matches, their worst run since 1967. This latest defeat was particularly hard for Paul Lambert to stomach because of the way the match slipped through his players’ fingers as a result of the Benteke dismissal. The Villa manager said that, while he understood Benteke’s reaction, given the striker had been provoked, he could not condone his player’s actions. A three-match suspension will now follow.
It was an incident that had been brewing in a match that became tetchy and fractious early in the second half as the challenges started to fly in and tempers boiled over. Jan Vertonghen incensed the Villa players with a two-footed tackle on Ashley Westwood that earned the Spurs defender a yellow card.
Not long afterwards came the Benteke red card. Benteke was initially tangling for the ball with Lamela close to the touchline and there was some shoulder-barging going on before Mason got involved. The Spurs midfielder took exception to Benteke’s behaviour and squared up to him, going head to head. It was at that point that Benteke snapped, lifted his right hand and swiped Mason in the face. An ugly melee ensued before Swarbrick eventually brought some order and dismissed Benteke.
Afterwards Mauricio Pochettino was asked whether he understood the expression “to get out of jail”. The Spurs manager had done well to keep a straight face a few minutes earlier when he claimed that his team deserved to win. Vulnerable at the back, where Benteke caused Younès Kaboul no end of problems in the first half, devoid of ideas in midfield – Pochettino withdrew Christian Eriksen at half-time – and toothless up front before Kane’s introduction, Spurs have plenty of work to do on this evidence.
Villa had got off to the best possible start when Weimann scored in the 16th minute. It was Villa’s first goal in nine hours and seven minutes of football and brought no little relief to these parts. Charles N’Zogbia rode a weak challenge from Danny Rose on the Villa right before sliding a low cross into the area that Weimann, sliding on a greasy surface, stuck out a leg to steer inside the near post.
Benteke had already gone close on two occasions. A diving header from the marauding Matt Lowton’s cross should have been buried but drifted wide, and two minutes later Benteke struck a left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area against the angle of crossbar and post. Later in the half he towered above Kaboul but headed Aly Cissokho’s deep free-kick over the bar.
Spurs, however, should have levelled when Emmanuel Adebayor sprinted clear in the 28th minute but the Togolese, who started alongside Roberto Soldado for the first time this season, did not hit his shot with any conviction and Brad Guzan got down low to his right to turn the ball behind.
Pochettino threw his water bottle down in disgust and Spurs fans made their own feelings known by calling for Kane.
Even with their numerical advantage, Spurs were struggling to make much impression, but then came the breakthrough when Chadli arrived at the back post unattended to turn in Lamela’s corner. It was left to Kane to twist the knife with his deflected free-kick.
