London: Tottenham routed Aston Villa 4-0 to reignite their bid for a top four finish in the Premier League, while West Ham’s Danny Ings dented Burnley’s faint hopes of avoiding relegation in a 2-2 draw on Sunday.
Ange Postecoglou’s side arrived at Villa Park knowing defeat to their fourth-placed rivals would have been potentially fatal to their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
But the north Londoners rose to the challenge with a second-half goal spree in the rain-soaked West Midlands.
James Maddison put Tottenham ahead and Brennan Johnson doubled their lead before Villa captain John McGinn was sent off for chopping down Destiny Udogie.
Son Heung-min and Timo Werner struck in stoppage time to leave fifth-placed Tottenham just two points behind Villa with a game in hand.
“We made it tough for Villa. They worked hard just to contain us. We got our rewards in the second half,“ Postecoglou said.
“Everyone was billing this as a do-or-die for us. I assume we’re not dead yet. It means we’re one game closer, just 11 games to go.”
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Restoring Tottenham to Europe’s elite club competition in his first season in charge would be a significant achievement for Postecoglou and the target is now firmly in his control.
Villa are hoping to reach the Champions League for the first time since 1983, but this was a major setback to their unexpected bid for a top four finish.
“We weren’t clinical because they were defending very well and we didn’t control the game,“ Villa boss Unai Emery said.
“We have to control our emotions. The first two goals were crazy. We have to move on.”
At the London Stadium, Burnley blew a two-goal lead as Ings’ last-gasp equaliser left his old club frustrated.
Vincent Kompany’s side climbed above Sheffield United to 19th place, but it was small consolation for squandering three points in their desperate fight for survival.
David Datro Fofana’s long-range strike and an own goal by Konstantinos Mavropanos put Burnley in control by half-time.
But Lucas Paqueta reduced the deficit immediately after the interval and former Burnley striker Ings levelled in the closing minutes with a clinical finish from Mohammed Kudus’ pass.
Burnley are 10 points from safety with 10 games left.
Nottingham Forest failed to pull away from relegation danger as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Brighton.
Andrew Omobamidele’s first-half own goal ended Brighton’s three-match winless league run to lift them to eighth place.
Fourth-bottom Forest felt aggrieved that Brighton midfielder Jakub Moder avoided a 67th-minute red card for a lunging challenge on Neco Williams.
But Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are precariously poised just three points above the relegation zone.
