Tottenham - 2 Aston Villa - 1:Sven-Goran Eriksson may not like him but two goals from Jermain Defoe were good enough for Spurs yesterday as the striker England discarded stepped up his remarkable return to form. There have been 11 goals in his last 10 starts and 50 in 122 appearances over his 36-month spell at Tottenham. The latest yesterday were finishes of the highest class.
There are increasing signs the striker's tendency to stroll offside will soon be overcome. The striker is now building a partnership with Dimitar Berbatov that could underpin Tottenham's push for a European place. Certain to start yesterday after Mido was ruled out with a groin injury, he seized his chance.
It was the Bulgarian's threaded through ball that unlocked the Villa defence for the opening goal, Defoe picking up the pass with a perfect first touch and sweeping the ball across Gabor Kiraly with his second.
Some 20 minutes later the same two players combined again. Berbatov flicked on Paul Robinson's clearance, Defoe burst on to the ball and, with Kiraly leaving open his near post in a repeat of his error against Manchester United on Saturday, the England man rifled in a second goal.
Like the lead, Martin O'Neill's dismay was also doubled, since Defoe had been one of his putative January transfer targets. In saying "he's a good player, that was patently clear today," Villa's manager was giving nothing away. Spurs manager Martin Jol is of a similar mind, since he will not countenance any approach.
"I would never sell him," said Jol, for whom the England Under-21 midfielder Tom Huddlestone signed a new four-year contract yesterday.
O'Neill's strikers, Milan Baros and Gabriel Agbonlahor, were disappointing at best. Each time the Czech won the ball he took the wrong option and the England Under-21 international seemed to lose his appetite for the match after a pair of heavy early challenges from Pascal Chimbonda.
Juan Pablo Angel's late appearance might have been brought to bear but for the disruption that befell Villa's defence in the first half. Olof Mellberg and Aaron Hughes collided in the 33rd minute as Berbatov skipped into the away team's area.
Although the Bulgarian was dispossessed, the clash deprived Villa of two of their back-line personnel; Hughes was immediately carried off, whereas Mellberg did not survive the interval after limping on grimly until half-time.
That collision was unfortunate for Villa but there was complicity in their own destruction. Stephen Davis was a shadow of the player in whom Manchester United showed an interest last summer.
With the pace of Agbonlahor, a hoisted pass into Tottenham's half would have given Villa, chasing a first win in eight matches, a valid alternative. Instead they sought, in vain, to find a way at ground level.
It meant all the best chances belonged to Tottenham, Berbatov enjoying a couple on the stroke of half-time. But eventually Gareth Barry found a way through for Villa. Having steered the ball away from Chimbonda, he eased past Michael Dawson's lunge before firing across Robinson for a consolation goal.
"We were not quite good enough," O'Neill admitted. "We showed good determination and in recent weeks we've played some pretty good stuff and not had the results."
Guardian Service
