Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings vs Aston Villa

Jermaine Jenas

Heurelho Gomes – 6

Safe handling throughout, and exposed for the goal. Too quick at times to re-distribute the ball, when taking a little heat of the game might be more advisable.

Alan Hutton – 7
Huge amount of energy up and down the right to get in a couple of shots. Never great defensively, but did well enough here.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto – 7
A steady game for the left back, up against pacy opponents.

Sebastian Bassong – 6
Loses a mark for dithering on the ball, allowing Heskey to out-muscle him and tee up the Villa goal. Never given an easy time by a fast and physical Villa.

Tom Huddlestone – 6
Challenging afternoon and struggled at times to cope with the power of Heskey and then Carew. But stuck to the task and came through a difficult match.

Rafael van der Vaart – 8
What a great buy this guy looks. Two goals to win the match – lovely sleight of foot to fool Dunne for the second – and terrific quality on the ball. But what has impressed me as much is his passion and drive to win. Looks a snip at £8 million.

Gareth Bale – 7
Quiet for most of the first half, but came on strong again in an open second half. The pace, the adventure, the quality were all still there.

Jermaine Jenas – 7
Buzzed around winning balls, keeping the passing simple, driving forward from the heart of midfield. A continuation of recent good form.

Luka Modric – 7
Not at his creative best but a fair shift from the little guy. Seems a risk to play both he and van der Vaart along with two centre forwards, and an attack-minded Bale, but nobody can accuse Harry of conservative selection.

Roman Pavlyuchenko – 6
Signs of a return to sharpness in the first half, but might have done better with two chances. Sacrificed at half time to accommodate tactical switch.

Peter Crouch – 7
Worked hard and biggest contributions were headers to set up van der Vaart for both goals. Always a handful for the Villa defence.

Subs:
Aaron Lennon – 7

Perhaps a step back towards form. Played the second half, as van der Vaart was switched to a supporting role to Crouch. Provided the cross the led to the winning goal, and would have been through on goal but for Collins’ cynical lunge. Why no red card ref?

Wilson Palacios – 6

Brought on to shore things up and protect the lead. Did nothing wrong.

Sandro – 6

Last minute replacement for van der Vaart.

By Andy Knaggs

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know