BIRMINGHAM, APRIL 9
Son Heung-min struck a superbly taken hat-trick as Tottenham Hotspur took a grip on fourth place in the Premier League, romping to a 4-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday.
With Arsenal losing on Saturday, Spurs have a three-point lead over their North London rivals with 57 points from 31 games - the Gunners have played one match less.
Villa had more possession and shots on target but it was the clinical finishing from Son and the Spurs front three that made the difference.
"We knew about the other results of Arsenal and Manchester United - when we did the warm-up the fans were celebrating so we knew but we don't want to focus on that result," said South Korean Son.
Son fired Spurs ahead in the third minute when a blocked shot from Harry Kane fell to him on the edge of the box and his first time, left-foot, shot flew in off the inside of the post.
Villa then had a host of chances to get level but a combination of wasteful finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris ensured Spurs went in with the lead at the break.
Jacob Ramsey jinked into the box before forcing a fine save out of Lloris with a powerful blast and the French keeper was at full stretch to keep out a long-range drive from John McGinn.
Villa were dominant but Danny Ings wasted the best opportunity, screwing his shot wide from close range at the back post.
WASTEFUL FINISHING
The combination of wasteful finishing and inspired goalkeeping from Lloris ensured Spurs went in with their lead intact at the break and it was a different game after the restart.
"Without Hugo we were probably 3-1 down in the first half, Hugo saved us today and it was a big performance from our captain when we needed him and he turned up saving every ball. He was unbelievable," said Son.
"We were unhappy at halftime, we talked tactically about what to do better. So in the second half we showed personality," he added.
Kane created the second for Spurs in the 50th minute, flicking on a long ball into the path of Dejan Kulusevski who burst into the box and beat Emiliano Martinez with a low shot.
There was a similar pattern to the third goal with Kane cleverly flicking on another long pass into the stride of Son who ran goalwards before providing a clinical finish to make sure of a fourth win in a row for Spurs.
Son completed his hat-trick in the 71st minute when, from the right flank, he found Kulusevski inside and the Swedish forward unselfishly returned the pass to the South Korean who drilled home off the post.
Villa manager Steven Gerrard was left scratching his head.
"It's tough - the scoreline is harsh on us, but it's the reality and we have to accept that. I have to accept it - I'm responsible. The story of the game certainly wasn't a 4-0 game," he said.
"It's the first time in football I've gone off at halftime 1-0 down and been really happy and proud, we were magnificent. The second half it flipped, Spurs' quality players made it about our backline and they punished us really heavily."
