Tottenham thumped Aston Villa 4-0 yesterday to tighten their grip on fourth spot in the Premier League after Manchester United and Arsenal both slipped up. Third-placed Chelsea ended a tough week by hammering Southampton 6-0 while Leeds climbed nine points above the relegation zone with a comfortable 3-0 win at Watford.
Six wins in seven league games for free-scoring Spurs have made them firm favourites to qualify for next season’s Champions League along with Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Son Heung-min scored a hat-trick for Antonio Conte’s men at Villa Park, with Dejan Kulusevski also chipping in as Spurs put their opponents to the sword.
The impressive Harry Kane provided two assists while Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made seven saves in the opening 45 minutes to keep Villa at bay. The win takes Spurs to 57 points — three clear of fifth-placed Arsenal and six ahead of West Ham and Manchester United.
In the early kick-off Frank Lampard’s Everton beat misfiring United 1-0 to climb four points above the relegation zone while Arsenal slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Brighton — their third loss in four games.
The decisive moment at Goodison Park came midway through the first half when Anthony Gordon hit a shot that took a huge deflection off England defender Harry Maguire and wrong-footed David de Gea in the United goal. Lampard said he was proud of his battling side, who are trying to maintain Everton’s record of being ever-present in the English top flight since 1954.
Arsenal are having a wobble at the wrong time after putting themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League — they have not played in Europe’s elite competition since the 2016/17 season. Brighton took the lead at the Emirates Stadium when Leandro Trossard turned home a low cross from Enock Mwepu and the Zambian midfielder himself added a second. Martin Odegaard scored a late consolation.
Chelsea suffered a shock 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford last week before losing 3-1 against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final. But they restored confidence on Saturday, racing into a 6-0 lead in the 54th minute, with two goals apiece for Mason Mount and Timo Werner. Manchester City and Liverpool go head to head at the Etihad today in a top-of-the-table clash.