Aston Villa 1, Tottenham 2: Gallagher and Richarlison Lift Spurs Out of Relegation Zone, Seizing Control of Their Destiny

THERE will only be tears of joy and relief for Tottenham at the end of the season if they can keep this up.

Because if Roberto De Zerbi’s side maintain this level of performance, it will be them surviving and .

Tottenham recorded back-to-back Premier League wins and climbed out of the relegation zone Credit: PA Unai Emery’s Aston Villa were hapless with one eye on Thursday’s Europa League semi Credit: Reuters

Boss had had enough with the doom-mongers who had claimed his team’s fate was already sealed ahead of this game, declaring “only losers cry.”

The tough talk had the desired effect as his patched-up Spurs became fired up enough to batter an abysmal Villa, whose focus was clearly on the , into submission.

First-half goals from and did the damage to land and lifted Spurs out of the drop zone.

A sign of how well things went for Tottenham was opening goal-scorer Gallagher having his name sung by the travelling fans on more than one occasion.

It may seem harsh, but man Gallagher had come to embody everything that had gone wrong at Spurs since he snubbed a switch to Villa to join the North Londoners in January.

He had struggled badly to bring the energy, leadership and quality fans had hoped he would deliver – leading many to rue the £35million they had spent on the ex-Chelsea man.

But Gallagher excelled in what was an outstanding team performance at Villa Park and was rightly serenaded by a delirious away section.

What Hammers fans watching on telly must have made of their fellow claret-and-blue side Villa though was anyone’s guess.

Conor Gallagher drove Spurs into the lead from distance Credit: EPA Richarlison doubled the advantage soon after Credit: Shutterstock Editorial

It would likely have included a few expletives, though, along with a complaint or two about the league’s integrity.

Villa looked completely listless, lacking intensity, cohesion and quality.

cut a weirdly unmoved figure on the touchline as he watched his side put in one of the worst performances of any Premier League side this season.

The Spaniard had made seven changes, gambling on a six-point advantage to sixth and pre-empting Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg at home to .

It led to an awful display which had their supporters booing loudly at half-time and full-time.

Their sorry side could have been a goal behind inside two minutes when Spurs seized a lax pass-out from .

But fortunately for the hosts, Richarlison opted to shoot instead of laying off to a wide-open , and the Brazilian’s effort was deflected wide.

Yet rather than it being a rare early chance for Tottenham, it set the tone for an utterly dominant first 45 from the visitors.

On 12 minutes, they had their deserved opener.

Kevin Danso’s long throw was half-cleared by to Gallagher just outside the box.

The former Blues star got the ball under control before unleashing a low drive into the near corner from 22 yards for his first goal in 15 games for the club.

Manager Roberto De Zerbi celebrated on the pitch Credit: Getty

It prompted the first songs of praise for the 26-year-old from the travelling fans, who would have seen their team go 2-0 up when Joao Palhinha fired a rocket of a shot towards goal minutes later, but Martinez tipped it onto the post with a finger-tip save.

Palhinha, who netted the late winner at Wolves last weekend, handing Spurs their first win of 2026, was booed early on by Villa fans due to a set-to he had had with in the reverse fixture.

But Villa supporters soon started turning their ire on their own players for the pitiful performance, which De Zerbi was urging his side to capitalise on from the sideline.

Martinez pulled off another solid stop to tip over a Muani shot at the far post.

There was nothing the World Cup winner could do, though, to prevent Richarlison from heading home Mathys Tel’s sublime cross on 25 minutes.

De Zerbi pumped his fist in celebration with the goal, even entering the field of play as he did it.

No doubt the goal must have been particularly satisfying as it involved the two players who had come into the line-up to replace the.

After a season of wrong choices, every decision De Zerbi’s players seemed to make here was the right one.

Whether it be Rodrigo Bentancur bringing down Lamare Bogarde for a cynical but savvy free-kick – earning a caution but stopping a vital attack – before half-time.

It was a much-deserved win for the away side

Or timing a last-gasp tackle to perfection as made a rare run in on goal just after the break.

Granted, things could have been even better for Spurs had Tel squared to Gallagher instead of firing over at one point, but that would be being picky.

The second half became an exercise in Spurs seeing a win out, which is something they have had little recent experience in doing.

Villa never looked remotely close to getting back into it as evidenced by Muani high-fiving fans as he came off with half an hour to go, and home fans leaving 20 minutes later.

This was a gift for De Zerbi’s Spurs and one they seized with both hands.

Villa did grab a goal back in the sixth minute of injury time as Emi Buendia flicked home a Matty Cash cross.

It was the hosts’ first shot on target and did not prevent boos from the home fans who bothered to hang around until full-time.