Dutch of class: Rafael van der Vaart continued his
scoring streak
No chance: Rafael van der Vaart beats Brad Friedel to
seal the win for Spurs
They have always preferred fine art to
painting by numbers at White Hart Lane and in Rafael van der Vaart, they
have a veritable Dutch master.
The man whose £8million transfer from Real
Madrid was secured only at 4pm on transfer deadline day brandished his brush
and delivered two more strokes of genius, his brace of goals
bringing Tottenham another colourful win from the sort of
end-to-end game in which they seem to specialise these days under
Harry Redknapp.
It was a little harsh on Aston Villa, who are
becoming a tighter, tougher team under the new management of Gerard
Houllier. Courtesy of Marc Albrighton's goal, they were on course
to deliver the Frenchman a third consecutive win but Van der Vaart
had other ideas.
Jose Mourinho must have some side at the
Bernabeu to allow the World Cup finalist to
go. 'He was excellent
again,' said Redknapp, grateful that Van der Vaart had done what he
did a fortnight ago against Wolves: scored and hauled Spurs back
from a losing position to ensure that there would be no Champions
League hangover.
Villain as well as hero after being sent off
in midweek against Twente Enschede, this time he was plain
hero.
'He's a good footballer and they love that
here. He is always looking to get on the ball,' added Redknapp.
'He's got a great left foot and a real eye for goal.'
Houllier could only agree. 'He was
outstanding,' conceded the Frenchman. It might have been different,
however, had Villa not lost their own outstanding performer in
Emile Heskey just past the half hour with a dead leg, his
replacement John Carew offering neither the same goal threat nor
outlet from pressure.
'John did a good job but he is not the same
player,' said Houllier. 'But it was a good test of football and we
showed quality, effort and character. It may sound funny but I was
happier with the performance than in the two wins.'
Enjoying a new lease of life under Houllier,
Heskey created the game's opening goal, embodying the new mix of
physical presence and determination that the manager is
instilling.
There seemed little on when Heskey challenged
Sebastien Bassong wide on the right but he muscled the Cameroonian
off the ball and raced along the byline before pulling it back
across goal, promising winger Albrighton arriving at the far post
ahead of Alan Hutton to touch home.
It was reward for Villa having got their
tactics right. Injuries forced Redknapp to move Tom Huddlestone
into the back four and Spurs looked porous in central midfield as
Nigel Reo-Coker, also re-energised under Houllier, and Stiliyan
Petrov snapped at heels.
On the flanks, Albrighton and Stewart Downing
put their fullbacks on the back foot.
Even though Spurs were not enjoying the
disruption of the rhythm they like to set, they always have enough
talent to conjure a goal when not fully firing, and in first half
added time, they created one out of very little.
Roman Pavlyuchenko crossed from
the right and Peter Crouch rose at the far post to head the ball
back across goal for Van der Vaart to nod home from close
range.
Villa complained that the goal had come
outside of the two minutes of added time indicated. Tottenham
reorganised for the better.
Pavlyuchenko did not reappear and Aaron
Lennon was introduced to the right flank - to push Downing back and
keep him away from the defensively suspect Hutton - and the England
winger almost created a second Spurs goal in the image of the
first.
Lennon's deep cross from the right was headed
down by Crouch but this time Petrov did enough to prevent Van der
Vaart getting in a shot when he seemed certain to score.
Now Spurs were playing the game at their
preferred higher tempo although they remained vulnerable to the
break, Carew and Albrighton failing to turn home the inventive
Ashley Young's curling cross.
Villa paid for the miss, Spurs deriving yet
more joy from a high ball from the right. This time it came from
Lennon's left foot, Crouch heading down again and Van der Vaart
cleverly waiting for Richard Dunne, rusty on his return from
injury, to commit before controlling and lashing home right-footed.
Off went Luka Modric, on
came holding midfielder Wilson Palacios and Spurs closed out the
win. He can be a bit of killjoy sometimes, can Redknapp.