Tottenham entered their key match versus Aston Villa with four consecutive clean sheets at home and they were able to extend it to five, but not with the result they wanted. Despite a dozen chances in the first 45 minutes, Spurs were unable to beat Villa keeper Brad Friedel and the Villa defense was staunch in the second half as the match slowed to a snail’s pace. In the end, Spurs will rue their missed chances and loss of their hold on fourth place, while Villa will walk away happy with a road point in a crucial Premier League match.
Huddlestone proved a threat from distance on each side of halftime, twice stinging the palms of Friedel from well over 25 yards. His blasts once was well parried away and out of reach, but once put it back into danger, only to see it cleared by the Villa defense at the last moment. In total, Spurs had a dozen first half set pieces in an attacking area, either by corner or free kick, but no times were the able to find the net. Their best chance came in the 41st minute when David Bentley played a dead ball on the left past the far post to Peter Crouch, who was six yards past the post. Crouch headed the ball back to the top of the six yard box, where Ledley King put a shot on goal that forced Friedel to make an extraordinary diving save. The ball did fall to Jermain Defoe though, but pressure forced him to put the ball over the empty net.
Despite being outplayed in the first half, Villa were not without a dangerous chance of their own. In the 28th minute, James Milner forced Heurelho Gomes to make a diving save to his right, but Gomes did not to well to control the rebound. Gaby Agbonlahor was first to it and shot it first touch, forcing Gomes to make a splendid sprawling save.
In the second half, Villa’s defense was far more organized and neither team looked very dangerous. The Villans had a couple free kicks in dangerous areas, but neither was close to frame and Spurs only had one quality chance. That came with 10 minutes to go when Luka Modric set up Crouch, but Richard Dunne got across at the moment of truth to deflect the ball narrowly wide.
The disappointing draw, coupled with Liverpool’s win, drops Spurs out of fourth place for the first time in weeks, while the hard earned point for Villa moves them even on points with sixth place Manchester City, two points behind Tottenham. In a match that provided a glowing opportunity to make a statement in the race for the final Champions League spot, neither looked the part.
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